#655: Ribbon Seal

If you are wondering why the alphabet is a bit out of order here - I was initially intending to draw a Ringed Seal today. However, when I googled for images, I stumbled upon this species, and her striking colouration (plus the fact she starts with R too), persuaded me to illustrate her instead.

The Ribbon Seal is a strikingly-coloured pinniped. She can  be found in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic regions, rarely coming to land but spending her life either on ice or in the water.  She will dive to depths of 200m to catch food in the form of fish, cephalapods and crustaceans.  In April, she comes up onto the pack ice to give birth and mate again. Pups are born pure white and are sometimes mistaken for harp seals. She remains with her pup for his first month, then returns to the sea, abandoning him. Over the next few weeks he loses his dense white fur, moults into his adult coat and loses a dramatic amount of weight, before heading out to sea himself.

Creature Feature #582: Petrel

The name Petrel is given to three different Families of Procellariiformes seabirds. They are characterised by their tubular nasal passage, which is used for locating the patchily distributed prey. They also drink sewater, and exude the salt via a special gland at the base of the bill, dripping a saline solution from their nostrils. Marine foragers, the majority of their life is spent gliding above the ocean, and snatching fish or squid from near the surface or diving for it. This fellow, the Cape Petrel, is a common Antarctic and sub-Antarctic species.

Creature Feature #513: Noddy

There are four species of Noddy, dark-coloured members of the Tern Family. Most are characterised by their wedge-shaped, notched tail and pale foreheads. Like terns, they are masters of the air, with his narrow, tapering wings giving him a graceful appearance. He is a proficient fish  predator, skimming low and scooping it from the water. Noddy will often hunt near large predatory fish, which force the smaller fish up towards the surface.