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Hooded Seal — printable fact sheet
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Hooded Seal
Cystophora cristata
Cystophora cristata of the North Atlantic pack ice carries the strangest display organ of any seal. The adult male has an inflatable sac of nasal cavity that swells into a black balloon on top of his head, and, separately, he can push the pinkish-red membrane of one nostril out …
Did you know?
- Hooded seal pups are weaned after just 3–5 days, the shortest lactation period of any mammal.
- Hooded seals dive routinely to 600 m and have been recorded past 1,000 m, and can stay down for nearly an hour. The blueback pelt was so valuable that the hunt for it was banned by the EU in 1985 and remains one of the most contentious chapters in sealing history. A weaned pup may not eat for weeks after its mother abandons it, burning through blubber while it works out how to catch fish on its own.
What I learned
Draw the hooded seal
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