Tuesday, 9 September 2014

Seals


There are 33 species of seals and two of them live around the British Isles. Scotland is an important breeding ground for grey seals. Seals are wild animals and will bite if approached too closely. Oil spillages from oil tankers causes havoc for marine life . Sea birds also become contaminated by the oil and get poisoned as they try to clean themselves with their beaks.



Recent news reports have seen a rise in the numbers of seals inhabiting the Thames estuary. Research suggests that hundreds of seals visited in 2014 with some taking in the sites of Central London by swimming all the way up to Teddington lock.


A common seal (c) Christine Hall


Common seals are very common especially in the waters of the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. They are the most widely distributed member of the seal family and the UK contains 5%of the worlds' population. They are mostly solitary animals but will form small groups when they come out of the water to bask , moult or mate, Their main predators are killer whales and great white sharks.

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