A sealing boat is dwarfed by a passenger ferry as it makes its way through heavy ice in North Sydney, N.S., in March 2009.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
If and when the Thwaites Glacier melts, it will result in nearly 0.6 metres of sea level rise, but it holds back another three metres of sea level rise lurking within the Antarctic continent. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.
A study suggests that the best practice is to eat the muscle, heart, and liver from weaned seals that are less than six weeks old.
(Pierre-Yves Daoust)
Choose the meat, liver and heart of young grey seals (less than six weeks old) and apply standard sanitary measures when handling seals and their products.
Ancestors of modern-day Cape fur seals left distinctive fossil traces thanks partly to their flippers.
Stuart on Nature/Stuart on Nature
Polar bears are increasingly seeking sustenance in human trash because of melting sea ice and a loss of hunting opportunities. The result is a rise in human-bear conflict – and dead bears.
Squirrel rattle calls may be a form of announcing their presence.
(Shutterstock)
North American red squirrels produce a range of sounds, but their distinctive rattle call may have more to do with identifying themselves than warning off other squirrels.
Great white sharks are not normally thought of as social creatures.
Yannis Papastamatiou
Researchers have discovered that great white sharks are more social than previously thought. Using specialized tags, they tracked six sharks and found that some stay close to each other when hunting.
The industry says the deterrent is necessary, but evidence suggests the devices pose a significant threat to some marine life, including maiming and killing seals.
A harp seal pup on pack ice, Quebec, Canada.
Blickwinkel/Alamy Stock Photo
New research combines cutting-edge engineering with animal behaviour to explain the origins of efficient swimming in nature’s underwater acrobats: seals and sea lions.
Female elephant seals take seven-month feeding trips during which they balance danger, starvation and exhaustion.
Dan Costa
By measuring how and when elephant seals sleep, researchers were able to figure out how elephant seals change their risk-taking behavior as they gain weight.
Scientist and seal, under the Antarctic ice.
McMurdo Oceanographic Observatory
Microphones on the seafloor recorded life under the Antarctic ice for two years – inadvertently catching seal trills and chirps that are above the range of human hearing. Could they be for navigation?
Superstition or wishful thinking could trick you into thinking you saw one of these mythical creatures.
AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez
This newly discovered ancient monk seal is challenging previous theories about how and where monachine seals evolved. It’s the biggest breakthrough in seal evolution research in about 70 years.
Marine Biologist, South African National Parks (SANParks); Honorary Research Associate, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB), South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity
Curator of Cenozoic Palaeontology, Research and Exhibitions, Iziko Museums of South Africa; Honorary Research associate Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town