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Monday 31 August 2015

Sea Lions | #BigBlueLive

Sea Lions - one of the stars of last week's Big Blue Live, they reside along the coastlines and islands of the Pacific Ocean. They actually live a pretty long life (between 20 and 30 years). They also use their adaptions to their advantage. It may well be pretty dark in the oceans but they find their way around with the help of their whiskers. 

Every one of their whiskers are loosely attached to their upper lip (scientists call their whiskers vibrissa) and can rotate around with the underwater current so they can sense their food nearby. It's not surprising that their diet mainly consists of seafood, from fish and squid to crabs and clams. Although one particular breed of sea lions actually eat seals, which isn't so good, but I guess it's all nature!

Their front flippers are also very clever! They help to regulate their temperature, constrict blood vessels when it's cold, constrict the blood vessel and increase the blood vessel size when it's warm. They can also manouver their flippers into the air to cool them off- something I reckon would be ideal in the height of the summer!

Sea Lions are just amazing creatures - they might not look like much but they're unbelievably clever, form incredible underwater spectacles and are just AMAZING! :)




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