Crabeater Seals

Two weeks after giving birth to a pup with a male, the female seal will be ready to find herself a new mate.

Crabeater seal pups are 1.2 metres long and weigh 20 to 30kg at birth! That’s the same size as me!

Adult crabeater seals can weigh up to 300kg and can be as long as 2.1 metres! Wow!

DID YOU KNOW?
Female crabeater seals are bigger than the males!

Crabeater seals live and breed on Antarctic pack ice.

Actually, crabeater seals don’t eat crabs! I wonder why they were named that?

Crabeater seal pups feed on their mother’s milk for 2 to 3 weeks before moving on to eating krill.

DID YOU KNOW?
Crabeater seals eat more krill (a shrimp like creature) than anything else on the planet.

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What prey on crabeater seals?
Killer whales may try to attack them while they are in the water so they are often seen on ice. Even though, some of the more intelligent of the killer whales may use water to try and flush the seals off the ice.
Also, sadly some PEOPLE hunt crabeater seals . Luckily, some companies like the seal conservation society are striving to protect this rare species.

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ARE CRABEATER SEALS AGGRESSIVE?
Crabeater seals are normally found dozing
on an ice floe but sometimes males may be spotted being highly aggressive to defend their females and their pups.

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Learn all about the wonderful species of the crabeater seal.

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