Apr 11, 2024 · Western Atlantic gray seal bulls can reach 2.5–3.3 meters (8.2–11 feet) in length and weigh as much as 400 kilograms (880 pounds); cows are much smaller, typically 1.6–2.0 meters (5.2–6.6 feet) long and 250 kilograms (550 pounds). Gray seals are gregarious animals—they gather in large groups on shore to breed, give birth, and molt.

Jan 27, 2016 · The night approaches quickly. A harbor seal plunges into the water, diving deep as the sunlight recedes. Through the dark, turbid waters, she searches for fish. Suddenly, the whiskers on her right cheek begin vibrating. And she’s off. Heather Beem is closely examining seal whiskers for insights to design new…

Apr 11, 2024 · Most seal pups don’t make it through their first year, and the researchers want to figure out whether higher iron intake makes a difference in the pups’ survival. “Everyone has been focused on the abundance of prey and how many calories seals are able to take in, but maybe just as important is getting the iron that they need,” Shero said.

Woods Hole, Mass. (Oct. 29, 2024) – Erebus Bay, Antarctica, is home to the southernmost population of the world’s southernmost living mammal – the Weddell seal. These seals may look like couch potatoes when they are resting on the ice, but Weddell seals go to great lengths to make a living in the harshest and most rapidly changing ...

Nov 26, 2013 · Then the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 outlawed seal killing. Gradually the seal population recovered and is now thriving. A 1994 survey spotted 2,035 seals in Cape Cod waters; by 2011, the National Marine Fisheries Service counted more than 15,700, with hundreds regularly seen congregating on beaches, or “hauling out,” on ...

Seal pups are fully weaned at 18 days old, and spend up to three weeks living off their fat stores until they take to the sea to forage on their own. Shero and her colleagues are investigating how iron in the mother seals’ diets impacts the pup’s diving capacity– and survival rates.

Sep 19, 2022 · Cazanave, A., et al. 2018. Global sea-level budget 1993-present. Earth System Science Data, vol. 10. doi: 10.5194/essd-10-1551-2018.

Dec 18, 2012 · Scientists from the newly created Northwest Atlantic Seal Research Consortium (NASRC) are using data collected by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) to investigate whether seals may impact beach water quality along Outer Cape Cod. A growing population of gray seals has been cited as the reason for beach…

Nov 16, 2023 · The deepest recorded Weddell seal dives have topped 3,000 feet (nearly 1,000 meters), the height of a skyscraper while the longest foraging dive was recorded at 96 minutes. By comparison, the Guinness World Record for longest breath held by a free diver from Croatia was 24 minutes and 37 seconds (eat your heart out, Budimir Šobat).

She closely examined seal whiskers for insights on how the shape of the whiskers helped seals detect movements in water, which lead them toward prey.… Heather Beem earned her Ph.D. in the MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography working biomimetics: using features observed in nature to inform the design of new technologies.