Frances Hudson. agec.10. of St. Albans

 Is the seal a fish?

The seal at the circus can balance a ball on the end of his nose without letting it fall. And when hers finished his act. he claps his flippers to start the applause. Now no fish could do such tricks. First. he couldn't breathe the air in the circus tent. or any air for that matter. He must breathe under water. Next. the fish wears scales. Mr. Seal. the old charmer. wears an excellent fur coat. Besides. a fish is not smart enough to train for such showmanship. So. the seal is not a fish;

Actually he belongs to the highest of all animal groups: He is a mammal. and a smart one. Millions of years ago. his ancestors were land animals. Maybe they were always fond of fish. Or maybe. long. long ago they decided that fish were more fun to catch than land animals. In any case. the remote ancestors of our charming seal left life on the land for life in the sea.

But they were warm‑blooded. air‑breathing mammals. They gave birth to live babies and fed them on mother's milk. They could stay under water only so long as they could hold a breath. They needed fur~coats and layers of fat blubber to keep their bodies warm in icy waters. Flippers were more useful for swimming than legs. It took ages of time for the seal to develop into the expert seaman he is.

There are various kinds of seals. The so‑called true seals have no outer ears. They are very clumsy on land and terra to keep to the water as much as possible. Since their coats are tough and hairy. they are often called the haired seals. Our darling circus performer is one of the other seals. an eared seal. You can see his furry outer ears on eigher side of his sleek head. The eared seals wear coats of soft fur. They are not very graceful when it comes to walking on land. but they are far better at this than their hair coated cousins.

All seals spend most of their lives on or in the water. But they must come up to breathe. Some can stay under for eight or nine minutes.

When necessary a certain seal that lives in the Arctic Ocean can stay under for twenty minutes. When the water freezes. he keeps himself a breathing hole in the ice.  Sometimes a hungry Eskimo waits at the hole and grabs the seal when he pokes up his nose.

Seal babies are born on land. For the first few weeks. some are cradled in ice and snow. Mama often refuses to leave them, even to eat. for the first few weeks of life. She loves them dearly. And no wonder. For fuzzy‑young seals could win a contest for the sweetest babies in the world. At the proper time. Mama takes herself off to fish and frolic in the water. She knows the time has come for the youngsters to tackle the world They may feel miffed for a while and live off their fat. But they soon get hungry. And they say, let's go catch some fish. Off they go to the water. They find they can swim all right. And no one has to teach a seal how to catch fish.