9781422275061

I N T R O D U C T I O N

The crabeater seal of Antarctica is probably the world’s most abundant seal, with a population numbering more than 50 million. They feed mainly on krill, rather than crabs, using specially adapted teeth to sift through the water.

M ost people who have visited the coast will have had some encounter, however brief, with seals or sea lions. The sight of what at first looks like a football bobbing in the waves suddenly coming to life, diving, and resurfacing as a harbor seal staring at the observer with large, appealing eyes will be familiar to anyone who has been out in a small boat around the rocky coasts of Britain or off the wilder shores of Maine. The strange howling calls of basking gray seals are car­ ried ashore with the wind and waves along many western shores in northern Europe. Visitors to the Galapagos Islands will never forget the experience of walking among colonies of sea lions

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