6º EFII
World's Largest Seal by Guy Belleranti In the freezing ocean waters of Antarctica, the planet's largest seals make their home in a frozen world. These giants are southern elephant seals, and they can grow as long as the length of a car and weigh as much as two cars combined. The name “elephant seal” comes from both the males' enormous size and from their giant trunk-like nose, called a proboscis.
Females do not have a proboscis and they are much smaller. A thick layer of blubber keeps southern elephant seals warm in their icy habitat. The seals are clumsy on land, but in water they’re graceful swimmers and incredible divers. They can easily dive 1,000 to 4,000 feet to hunt for squid, octopus, and various kinds of fish. Elephant seals are able to stay underwater for 20 minutes or more.
The longest underwater session researchers observed is an amazing two hours! When they return to the surface to breathe, it’s only for a few minutes. Then they dive again. While elephant seals spend most of their time swimming, they also gather on beaches in groups called colonies. One reason they come to land is to give birth and breed. Males arrive before females. They battle for dominance, deciding who will have large harems of females.
Raising their enormous bodies, the males inflate their snouts and bellow. Usually these confrontations end quickly. However, sometimes only a physical battle can settle the matter. These fights can be bloody, but permanent injury is rare. Females arriving on land give birth to a single pup they’ve been carrying since the previous year. Newborns weigh about 90 pounds. The mother nurses her pup for a little over three weeks.
After this, she breeds with a dominant male and then returns to the sea to feed. Her pup now weighs well over 200 pounds and is on its own. If it survives, it too will enter the sea within a couple of months. A second reason elephant seals come to land is to molt. When they molt, they shed old skin and fur and new skin and fur grows.
A smaller species, the northern elephant seal, lives in the Pacific Ocean, dispersed from Baja, California to Alaska. Both northern and southern elephant seals were once hunted nearly to extinction. However, under legal protections both have made incredible comebacks.
1. Based on the information in the article, describe how an elephant seal's movements are different on land than in the water.
2. Why do male elephant seals arrive on land before females during the breeding season?
3. Based on the information in the article, describe two reasons why elephant seals come on land.
4. How does an elephant seal obtain its food? What foods are a part of an elephant seal's diet?
5. Based on what you read in the article, are elephant seals in danger of becoming extinct today? Why or why not?
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Respostas
Resposta:
1- Os elefantes-marinhos distinguem-se dos integrantes da família Otariidae (focas, leões e lobos marinhos) por não apresentarem orelhas e por se locomoverem em terra apoiando-se na superfície ventral e não nas nadadeiras. Embora seja muito desajeitado e lento em terra, surpreende pela sua agilidade no mar.
2- Os machos vem a terra antes das fêmeas para disputa de território.
3- Para disputa de território, e para ter os filhotes
4- As fêmeas adultas podem mergulhar até 1.255 metros de profundidade e busca de alimento, mas normalmente mergulham de 500 a 800 metros; os machos mergulham de 200 a 400 metros e os mergulhos, de ambos, duram de 20 a 27 minutos. Alimentam-se basicamente de lulas, sépias, pequenos crustáceos, polvos e raias.
5- Sim, porque há muita caça desses animais.
Explicação:
Traduzido caso queira em inglês:
1- Elephant seals are distinguished from members of the Otariidae family (seals, lions and sea lions) for not having ears and for moving on land by leaning on their ventral surface and not on their flippers. Although it is very clumsy and slow on land, it surprises with its agility at sea.
2- The males come to land before the females to fight for territory.
3- To dispute territory, and to have the puppies
4- Adult females can dive up to 1,255 meters deep and search for food, but normally dive from 500 to 800 meters; the males dive from 200 to 400 meters and the dives of both last from 20 to 27 minutes. They feed basically on squid, cuttlefish, small crustaceans, octopus and rays.
5- Yes, because there is a lot of hunting of these animals.