5/2/08

#3: Warm Flippers



Check out this very cool fur seal behavior. It is called jug handling and provides fur seals with a method of regulating their body temperature. The seals have many veins running through their flippers and these veins contain a heated blood supply. By tucking their flippers together, like the above pictures, the seals keep the heat from rapidly leaving their flippers. By stretching their flippers out, into the air, they release heat at a faster pace. In addition to the importance of this behavior, it's also a lot of fun to watch!

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6 comments:

  1. Oh now I get it... the flippers look like the handle of a jug.

    It took me a while :)

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  2. That's how I keep warm.

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  3. Ha!

    It looks like a dance move :)

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  4. It's doing the teapot song dance .... sooooo cuuute

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  5. It's doing the teapot song dance .... sooooo cuuute

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  6. I've never seen them do this when i'm there.

    What time did this happen? is it every day at that time?

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