This cute but rather persistent Weddell seal pup thought I might be able to help him find his mum. Filmed on the pressure ridge walk by Scott Base, Antarctica. #UCScience #AntarcticaNewZealand
"I'm supposed to stay 10 meters from-" "Listen, human; you're on my turf now and your human world rules hold no power here. That said, I now require belly rubs and I will keep going after you until I finally receive what I demand."
@JeagerGray it's mostly for the seal's protection - to avoid any potential infections, to limit non-natural behaviours or smells that might cause them problems with other seals. Plus they can give a nasty bite, or squash you when if they rolled on top of you 😉
There's just something about seeing seals slowly inch their way over to something or someone that just spikes my serotonin and dopamine... and then they hit the "bl'egg" and I ascend.
@@YourCapyFrenBigly_3DPipes1999 its just about that, he shouldnt see humans as friendly, because some of them are not. Imagine it goes up to poachers for some belly rubs, because thats defintly not what its going to get.
@@YourCapyFrenBigly_3DPipes1999 This nonsense you just typed is precisely why people can't touch these animals. They'll think all humans are safe & get clubbed by a poacher
@@kingdamazo7266 @kingdamazo7266 well poachers are shameful but forgive me for asking but are poachers even a problem today? I mean are poachers rushing to the North or South Pole to poach baby seals like in days of yore? It seems like a long journey just for that. Not that the world isn't full of cockmongers who wouldn't try under the right but seals are protected species I thought? I would honestly love to know if poaching arctic species is actually a problem today because I thought that was past.
Well said! I love this video here what a cute little goober 😂 There’s a team of folks from the university of Montana that have been doing a long term population study on these animals since they can live up to 30 years in the best cases and have pups for most of those years! They call it being a “super seal mom” and one I remember had 22 pups in 31 years or something like that! The tags serve to show who’s pup is who and let’s the researchers keep tabs of the population stability
Unfortunately, jonathanhogg5665 was recently banned from Antarctica after shouting multiple highly-offensive slurs in public. Ignorance of seal language is no excuse for that kind of behavior.
I can imagine me doing this: "Hello 911, I am being attacked by a seal pup. What do I do?" 911: "Have you tried walking a way from the seal?" ME: "I'll give that a try. It works!" 🤣 Though if it was me I would have thought the big little guy just wanted some belly rubs. Wouldn't have risked finding out.
I've been chased by beavers on multiple occasions. A quick 10 foot sprint and then you can walk away from that point. Although it must be said, that I am positive they are not bluffing. I have no idea what the seal pup's intention was. But I would've done the same, walked away while filming. 🤣🥰
the most common thing I've seen from Weddell seals in these videos is they always approach and roll over to show their bellies. iirc, showing the belly is a sign of trust?
@@YourCapyFrenBigly_3DPipes1999 lol! That's true. lol! But I'm not going to rub his belly until he gets really, really friendly and well acquainted. In the mean time I'll stand close by. The sea lions I've seen live are mean! lol!
@@Kruppt808 no I haven't been to Antarctica lately no. But I hear McMurdo station is pretty fly. I wouldn't make any sudden moves but I would just hold out my hand in hopes that he would see I was pretty friendly. After all if not friend then why so friend-shaped??? Science can't answer that
i've seen a lot of adorable seal videos but i've never seen a pup act quite like this. what is he doing flipping over like that? kind of reminds me of my dog. she loves belly rubs
@@Winddancer1991I don't think Mojang Studios chose to use seal noises for the llamas. They probably told somebody that has never heard a llama to make a llama noise and that was the result.
Maybe you could if you study hard and become a scientist specialising in Antarctic mammals. They track them, watch their behaviour and sometimes give them hugs/belly rubs while doing health checks and placing ID tags.
Definitely seemed friendly. Not sure about the belly showing. I just got the feeling it was trying to find its mum for a drink of milk. Someone else mentioned it might have recently been weaned.
Thank you for sharing, this is a great video of these silly and incredible mammals You’re living the dream haha I think these seals are the only thing that could get me to go someplace that cold lol Best wishes hope your research down there is going well
Some get a bit cranky when they hear a skidoo pull up - that's the mode of transportation for the scientists who tag them! But this wee guy seemed eager for a hug!
Weddell seals are the largest and most dominant mammal on the entire Antarctic continent so they have no reason to be scared of some hairless apes who set research villages.
@@teeanahera8949 Leopard seals are small compared to Weddell’s and Weddell’s are also more widespread. Also leopard seals do not have any beef with Weddell seals.
I have a genuine, naive question. Why were you moving away? I know seal bites are dangerous, because of bacteria in their mouth. However, it does not seem hostile and it never got too close, besides you are likely significantly faster than it. Also, I know that researchers in Antarctica touch these seals to weight them, tag them and so on. Even as pups. Hence my question. Thanks!
Thanks for your question. When not directly researching seals, all personnel are required to stay 10metres away. This is mostly for the safety of the seals (in case humans have any harmful contamination, so we don't disrupt their natural behaviour, and so we don't leave any of our scent which could possibly lead to the seal being rejected by its mother). There is a small chance they could bite us, but this little guy didn't seem threatening, just curious.
@@geogeek1758 ok, thanks for the reply. May I ask how you got the job there? I am soon graduating my MSc. in Computer Science, and while it is not (marine) biology, I am exploring my options and I am thinking of ways I could work closer to scientists that work with animals. Obviously, I don't expect to be sent to the Arctic to study seals, but I assume there may still be some work for me, especially if there is a lot of data to be studied.
@gogox98 I am a technician in the school of Earth and Environment at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. My job down there was maintenance of 20 weather stations. The base I was staying at (Scott Base) is close to the sea ice where I was walking. The base (and others like it) has staff from many backgrounds to support a wide range of science projects and keep the base working: computer support, engineers, medical, carpenters etc. So there are opportunities for people with a wide range of skills to visit and work in places like this.
