The Caspian seal, also called the Caspian seal, used to belong to the order of the pinnipeds, but today this status has been changed, and it belongs to the order of predators, the family of real seals. This animal is threatened with extinction for several reasons, but pollution of the sea is considered the main one.
Description of the seal
The Caspian seal (photo of an adult is shown below) belongs to small species. In adulthood, the length of his body is on average 1.20-1.50 m, and weight 70-90 kg. With a small growth, they are quite thick, and the head is small. There is a mustache. The eyes are large, dark in color. The neck, although short, is noticeable. The front five-fingered limbs are short, they have strong claws. The coat is very smooth and shiny.
The color of these seals depends on their age. But in adults, the main tone is a dirty straw-whitish. The back is olive-gray in color and covered with dark irregular spots, the color transition from the belly to the back is smooth. Although the color may be a little different shades. Males seem more contrasted than their companions. They are also slightly larger than females and stand out with a more massive head with an elongated muzzle.
Where do they live
These seals got their name due to their habitat. They live only in the Caspian Sea and settle down on the shores, starting from the north of the Caspian Sea and up to Iran itself. Closer to the southern border of the sea, seals are less common.
The Caspian seal regularly performs short seasonal migrations. With the onset of winter, all animals settle on the ice in the North Caspian. When the ice begins to melt, the seals are gradually moving south, and by the beginning of summer they populate the territories of the Southern and Middle Caspian. In these places, seals can eat well in order to accumulate a fat reserve by autumn. With the end of summer, animals again move to the northern part of the sea.
What do they eat
The Caspian seal feeds mainly on different types of calves. Sprats may also be included in the diet. Sometimes they can catch shrimp, amphipods, atherin. At certain times, seals eat small amounts of herring. But mostly seals catch bull-calves all year long without changing their diet.
Reproduction and description of the Caspian seal cub
This species of seals differs from the rest in that its representatives have the shortest puppy period. It begins in late January and is already ending in early February. During this short time, almost all females manage to bring offspring. At the end of the puppies, seals begin to mate; this mating season also does not last long, from mid-February until the first March days, until the animals began to leave the ice of the North Caspian.
As a rule, the female seal brings one baby. The baby weighs about 3-4 kg, and its length reaches about 75 cm. Its almost white coat is silky and soft. The baby of the Caspian seal eats milk for a month, at which time he manages to grow up to 90 cm, and his weight increases more than four times. In the middle and at the end of February, while the baby feeds on milk, he manages to shed and shed the children's white coat. While the kids molt, they are called sheepskin coats. After the young seals have completely acquired a new coat, they become sivars. In Sivars, the color of the fur coat on the back is plain, dark gray, and on the side of the abdomen light gray. Further, the animal sheds every year, and with a new hairline, the coloration acquires a more contrasting spotting. At the age of one year, seals are painted in an ash-gray shade, with a dark back, and black-gray spots are already visible on the sides. In young biennial seals, the main tone becomes a little lighter, and the number of spots increases.
At the age of five, the female seal becomes sexually mature and ready for mating. A year later, she brings her first child. Almost all adult females give birth from year to year.
Seal behavior
They spend a lot of time at sea. They can fall asleep, turning over on their backs and sticking their faces out of the water. This species of seals does not like to accumulate in large crowds on ice. The female with her baby is usually located away from the neighbors. At the beginning of the formation of ice, an ice floe is selected on which the puppy will occur. While the ice is thin, the Caspian seal makes a hole in it through which it will go out to sea. Thanks to regular use, the lasers do not freeze, and they can be used all winter. But sometimes these holes have to be expanded with the help of strong claws, which are on the front fins.
After puppies and mating, a molting period begins. At this time, the ice floe is already reduced in size, and the seals are compacted. If the seal does not have time to shed before the ice melts, it must remain in the North of the Caspian Sea, where moulting continues on the sandy island. Usually in April you can see seals lying in groups.
In summer, Caspian seals disperse throughout the water area and stay away from each other. Closer to September they gather in the northeast side of the sea on huts (sand islands). Here, in dense clusters are females and males of any age.
