The baby seals each weighed between 18kg and 38kg now, up from about 10kg after their birth, said Polar Adventure curator Philip Wong Wing-hong. The boys sport fluffy coats at birth, but two have already shed them. The youngest squirt, Sammy, is expected to do so about a month later. “Sonny is the most energetic of the three. He swam for the first time just 32 hours after he was born,” he said. “Ocean is the friendliest and loves interacting with the trainers.”
The spotted seal – the only type of seal found in China – can live up to 35 years and weigh a maximum of 130kg.
The spotted seal (Phoca largha, Phoca vitulina largha), also known as the larga or largha inhabits ice floes and waters of the north Pacific Ocean and adjacent seas. It is primarily found along the continental shelf of the Beaufort, Chukchi, Bering and Okhotsk Seas and south to the northern Yellow Sea and it migrates south as far as northern Huanghai and the western Sea of Japan. It is also found in Alaska from the southeastern Bristol Bay to Demarcation Point during the ice-free seasons of summer and autumn when spotted seals mate and have pups. Smaller numbers are found in the Beaufort Sea.
The newborn seals are born with a coat of fluffy fur which they shed one month later, and they usually dip into the water three days after birth.
Two of the mothers, Qiao Niu and Lisa, were born in the Dalian Lao Hu Tan Ocean Park while the other was from the Dalian Sun Asia Ocean World.
The parents of Qiao Niu and Lisa were rescued after the four seals were accidentally caught by fishermen near the seaport. The Lao Hu Tan Ocean Park cared for them before releasing them back into the wild last year.
Visitors can visit the seals at Ocean Park this summer. The park has a total of six bulls and seven cows.
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