Lobe-Toothed Seals in GURPS
Lobe-toothed seals are Antarctic seals. They have unique molar teeth, with projections out the sides to allow their half-closed mouths to act as sieves. They use these structures to gulp up krill, which exist in huge numbers in the Antarctic waters, and then keep the krill while expelling the water. Like other earless seals, they swim with up-and-down undulating motions using their back flippers for propulsion and their front flippers for steering. On land, most of them caterpillar-hump to get about, although crabeaters slither.
- Leopard seals Hydrurga leptonyx are found in Antarctic waters. They are large and very predatory, with a massive head and large canines. Leopard seals eat penguins, fish, squid, and other seals along with the more usual krill. Leopard seals are inquisitive and playful. They occasionally attack and even kill humans although they usually leave us alone. These are the second largest predators in Antarctica, after the orca.
- Weddell seals Leptonychotes weddellii live in the waters around Antarctica. They are often found in groups around holes or cracks in the ice. They show little fear of humans. They are deep-diving seals which forage on the sea floor for cephalopods, crustaceans, and other shellfish as well as fish. They will also feed on the rich shoals of krill and the occasional penguin.
- The crabeater seal Lobodon carcinophagus is an Antarctic seal. It is the most abundant species of seal in the world. This seal is a specialist krill predator. The young are often found in large groups of several hunded, hauled out on the ice or swimming and feeding synchronously. Crabeaters have been known to voyage some distance inland. On land they can move with a slithering motion that is faster than most other seals.
- Ross seals Ommatophoca rossii are found throughout Antarctic waters. Like other Antarctic seals they have specially shaped teeth for filtering krill out of the water. They eat mostly squid and fish. Ross seals have siren-like calls and twittering sounds which travel for long distances, and are seemingly made without exhaling.
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