Researchers have shared adorable footage of mother Weddell\u00a0seals teaching their babies to swim in Antarctica\u2019s McMurdo Sound.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Adult\u00a0Weddell\u00a0seals<\/a>, which live in Antarctica, can stay underwater for more than an hour and dive to over 300m. But\u00a0babies<\/a>\u00a0don’t automatically know how to swim: they have to learn how from mum.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the delightful video of these swimming lessons, taken in 2015, these little seals can be seen getting used to being in the water by a dive hole in the ice, with mum watching closely.\u00a0<\/p>\n Weddell seal mum and pup beneath the ice. Credit: Luis A. Huckstadt, University of Exeter. NMFS Permit No. 19439 and ACA Permit No. 2016-005<\/p>\n \u201cOnce the pup is in the water the pair stays pretty close by the dive hole,\u201d says\u00a0Kaitlin Allen<\/a>, a postdoctoral scholar at\u00a0Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)<\/a>\u00a0who\u00a0studies how marine mammals manage oxygen while they’re diving. \u201cIf the mother were foraging, we\u2019d likely see her take off pretty soon after entering the water, but instead she\u2019s spending time with her pup as the pup gets used to being in the water.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n When the little one grows up, it will be able to spend much longer in the water \u2013 \u201cthis species is one of the best marine mammal divers, with the longest recorded dive of around 96 min,\u201d she adds \u2013 but the baby\u2019s swims are short and sweet for now.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe pups are not fully ‘waterproof’ at this stage,\u201d Allen explains. “These swimming lessons are relatively brief to begin with.\u201d<\/p>\n Living in this extreme environment is part of the reason mothers teach their babies to swim, but it may also be because the pups have a longer lactation period than other species and so spend more time with mum.\u00a0<\/p>\n Other species aren\u2019t instinctively better swimmers, Allen explains. \u201cFor example, northern\u00a0elephant seal<\/a>\u00a0mothers don\u2019t spend any time in the water with their pups,\u201d she says. \u201cBut once the pups have been weaned, they\u2019ll start to venture into the surf or ponded areas on the beach where they practice swimming and holding their breath before they take off for a big months-long foraging trip.\u201d<\/p>\n Diving under the ice can be difficult and dangerous. \u201cIt\u2019s really tricky to hop in and out of the water with around two metres of ice to jump over,\u201d says Allen. \u201cMothers will ‘rake’ the ice on the inner surface of the dive hole with their teeth to make it less slippery, which should help the pups to get back out of the water onto the ice surface where they can rest.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n