With the arrival of spotted seals, Spring on Long Island is full of life. (Data map) Gu Xiaojun photo
China News Network Yantai, May 17 Title: Shandong Long Island: The Hometown of Spotted Seals
Written by Wang Jiaoni Shauna
Since the beginning of May, the western Pacific spotted seals that have spent spring on Long Island in Shandong Province have set off one after another to enjoy summer trips to the sea areas such as Bailing Island in South Korea. Throughout the spring, these rare sea beasts, known as the "giant pandas of the sea", became the most agile figures in the waters of Long Island.
On the surface of long island and on the reef, there are traces of seals everywhere. They chase and frolic in the water, or lazily bask in the sun on the reef, sometimes squinting and napping, sometimes looking around with their heads held high.
With the arrival of spotted seals, Spring on Long Island is full of life. After November of each year, a large number of spotted seals breed in Liaodong Bay, and in February and March of the following year, spotted seals lead their young born that year to migrate to the Yellow Bohai Sea to forage for food, and the long island sea is a necessary route and an important habitat for spotted seals to migrate. From March to May, Long Island became a colony of spotted seals.
There are a large number of low reefs in the waters of Long Island, and there are several low reefs on the north side of Long Island, the highest one is only five or six meters above sea level, which is called "Seal Reef" by local fishermen and is the natural habitat of spotted seals.
The waters off Long Island are a must for the migration of spotted seals and an important habitat. (Data map) Gu Xiaojun photo
At the same time, spotted seals are wide-ranging predators, not only liking to prey on a variety of fish, but also liking marine foods such as crustaceans and cephalopods, and eating foods equivalent to 5% to 8% of their body weight every day. The waters of Long Island are rich in marine life and are distributed with a variety of crabs, shellfish and fish, which can provide sufficient food for spotted seals.
It is reported that the place with abundant bait and clean sea water is an ideal habitat for spotted seals. In recent years, Shandong Long Island has been continuously restored ecologically, and traditional fish resources have been restored to varying degrees, attracting more and more spotted seals to live here, forming a unique seal kingdom and becoming the "other land" of spotted seals.
According to experts, spotted seals are a group of migration through Long Island, every year there are always a number of spotted seals for various reasons do not migrate with the large army, so in Long Island can be found all year round the traces of seal activities, attracting tourists from all over the world to "encounter".
The Western Pacific spotted seal is a nationally protected animal, the only known species of pinnipeds to breed in Chinese waters, and a flagship species of marine ecosystems in the Bohai and Yellow Seas. (End)
Source: China News Network