What Do Seals Eat?

Elephant seal dives up to a depth of 1000-2000 feet to find their prey, which includes rays, squid, fish, and small sharks.

• 2 species of the elephant seal exist, and they include the southern and the northern elephant seal. These names are given to distinguish them based on where they are found.
• Elephant seals get their name from the fact that they are enormous when considering their size and that they have long-noses which resembles that of elephants.
• Elephants seals are found in the marine waters, especially next to beaches and remote areas of the mainland.

Weddell seals diet includes silverfish, codfish, octopuses, small crustaceans, prawns, and other creatures found in the marine waters.

• Weddell seal is enormous compared to other seal types.
• Both males and females of Weddell seals can grow to lengths of about 3 meters and a weight of 400-500 kg.
• Weddell seals can be found below the Antarctic ice most of the time.

Information on what the Ross seal eats is limited. However, reports indicate that this seal mostly eats squid, fish, mollusks, and other small invertebrates like krill.

• The Ross seal is notable for its small, broad head and its shorter snout compared to other seals.
• Ross seals habitat includes marine and bordering terrestrial lands (icecaps).

Contrary to their name, the crabeater seal does not depend mainly on crabs. Their primary diet is made of krill.

• Crabeater seal grows to a length of about 2.2 to 2.6 meters and a weight of about 200-300 kilograms.
• Crabeater seals inhabit both marine waters and bordering terrestrial land lined by ice caps.

Brown Fur Seal’s diet includes mackerel, crustaceans, African penguins, sardines, anchovies, and gobies.

• The brown fur seals can be found in the rocky and sandy beaches of South Africa and Australia.
• This type of seal is the largest of all the fur seals.

Leopard seals mainly feed on krills, squids, fish and a wide array of sea creatures. Adult Leopard seals eat substantial prey such as emperor penguins, gentoo penguins, and chinstrap penguins.

• Leopard seals also consume Weddell seal, Crabeater seal, and elephant seal pups.
• Leopard seals are also known as ‘Fur Seal Pups‘.
• In the Island of South Georgia, leopard seals eat Antartic fur seal, penguins, seabirds.

Their environment helps seals find their prey.

• For instance, when they are feeding below the ice, one tactic they use to hunt their prey is diving beneath it and then ambushing it.
• Air also comes in handy to help Weddell seals to hunt. They blow air into cracks in the ice an action which surprises small fish which respond by flight. When this happens, the seals position themselves to devour their victims.
• Another hunting strategy some species employ (with the example of crabeater seal) is, they swim through a group of seals while opening their mouths.

Seals can display nocturnal or diurnal activity. As a result, their foraging and eating behavior can be evident both during the day or at night, depending on individual species.

How often seals eat depend on numerous factors, one aspect being molting.

• During this process, some seals eat less food while others opt to fast completely.
• On regular occasions/periods, adult seals consume about 4-6% of their body weight every day. Hence, they must eat as much and as often as they can to realize this daily intake requirement.

Examples of organisms that feed on seals include orcas, other seals (mostly leopard seals), and sharks. Polar bears also feed on seals as well as killer whales.

Being at the apex of their food chain, seals have an essential role to play in the marine ecosystem.

• These large marine mammals feed on a vast range of organisms, thus maintaining the existence of an ecological balance.
• Seals also provide (bearded seal) food to creatures like polar bears, thus promoting their survival.