Xiang Yang was in a very good mood as he had not encountered the horrible killing wind in Antarctica.
Just at this moment, Xiang Yang saw the seal, which was crowded at the cabin door with the crew members. It stuck its head out of the crowd and looked eagerly outside the cabin.
Xiang Yang couldn't help but laugh, "What's going on with this seal? Why did it run into the cabin?"
"Brother Yang, I brought it in. Didn't you just say that there was going to be a snowstorm? I wanted to save him." Fang Youqun said.
"It doesn't need your rescue." Xiang Yang shook his head.
In Antarctica, a blizzard is a horrific disaster for humans and even penguins, but for seals, a blizzard is nothing. In fact, the colder it is, the more excited they are. Their thick fur makes them fearless of any wind and snow.
Seeing that the danger was over, the crew members who escaped the disaster became interested in the cute harp seal, and many of them began to tease it.
"This harp seal is so cute, much cuter than the leopard seal. Captain, can we keep it?" a crew member asked Xiang Yang.
The crew members all knew that Xiang Yang liked these spiritual marine creatures very much. Otherwise, no matter how cute this seal was, they would not ask such questions.
However, this seal is indeed very cute, well-behaved and obedient. It stays in the middle of a group of crew members, supporting its body with its two front legs, and its two black eyes rolling around.
Xiang Yang actually liked this seal very much, but he still shook his head and said, "No, our ship can't stay in Antarctica forever. After leaving Antarctica, it won't be easy to keep this seal alive."
In fact, seals are relatively easy to feed. They don’t even need seawater, fresh water can feed them.
Two seals are artificially raised in the Baotu Spring Scenic Area in Jinan, my country.
There is some controversy surrounding freshwater seal farming.
But as to whether seals can be raised in fresh water, the answer is yes.
What determines whether an organism can survive in fresh water is whether it can stabilize the osmotic pressure of its body.
During tens of millions of years of biological evolution, pinnipeds such as seals and sea lions have experienced an evolutionary process from land to ocean, so unlike fish, they can survive in both sea water and fresh water.
In the 1980s, my country had already had a record of breeding and surviving harbor seals in freshwater environments. However, due to the difference in composition between seawater and freshwater, seals living in freshwater for a long time are prone to eye diseases, so they need the careful care of veterinarians and careful control of water quality.
Moreover, seals are second-class protected animals in our country. Although other countries kill about 100,000 harp seals every year, in our country, private individuals are not allowed to raise them, let alone kill them. If you kill them, you will definitely be asking for trouble. Xiang Yang does not want to ask for trouble.
"Don't gather around this seal. There are a lot of bacteria on it. Don't get infected." Xiang Yang saw that the crew members were crowded around the seal, and some even wanted to reach out and touch it, so he quickly spoke up to remind them.
After Xiang Yang's reminder, some crew members immediately noticed something was wrong.
Xia Pengjie covered his nose, frowned and said, "This harp seal's mouth stinks."
The crew members nearby sniffed and immediately smelled it, and quickly covered their noses with their hands.
Xiang Yang shrugged his shoulders. "This is perfectly normal. Harp seals also like to tear a hole in the ice and then dive through the hole. Their teeth and gums are probably damaged a long time ago. There are a lot of bacteria in their mouths, so you all stay away from them and don't get bitten by them."
"Let me take a look." At this time Fang Youqun walked over, squatted down, and looked towards the mouth of the harp seal.
Just then, the harp seal yawned, revealing a mouth full of rotten teeth.
"Really, its teeth are almost all worn away. Brother Yang, why don't we keep this seal? How can it find food by itself underwater?" Fang Youqun said with some heartache.
"This." Xiang Yang hesitated for a moment, "You can let it stay on the boat for a while, clean the wound in its mouth, and then send it to the rescue station, or release it back into the sea after its injuries are better. You must not bring it back."
The crew members nodded quickly.
Soon, the ship's doctor gave the harp seal anesthesia.
After the harp seal fainted, they immediately used medical cotton to clean the wounds and rotten flesh in its mouth, and then washed it clean with strong liquor.
"I have cleaned the wound, but there is nothing we can do about the teeth, unless we give it braces or implant it directly," said the accompanying doctor.
Of course Xiang Yang couldn't put braces on this harp seal.
As for dental implants, this was the first time Xiang Yang had heard of such a professional term, let alone implementing it.
Helpless, Xiang Yang had to say: "Let's do this for now. When it wakes up, feed it some krill, and then clean its wound again tomorrow. As long as it stops biting the ice, this harp seal will be almost cured."
The crew members all felt a little regretful.
In fact, Xiang Yang was also sighing in his heart.
It is the nature of seals to bite ice holes. As long as it lives in the wild, how could this harp seal not bite ice holes
Fang Youqun said with some pity: "Brother Yang, its teeth are all worn flat, how can it eat like this?"
"Don't worry, as long as you give it the Antarctic krill, it will definitely find a way to eat it." Xiang Yang said.
After the rotten flesh in the harp seal's mouth was cleaned, the extremely unpleasant smell disappeared immediately.
Xiang Yang squatted down and gently rubbed the harp seal's head.
Although most Antarctic krill live in the surface layer of seawater within 50 meters, their numbers are large.
But seals have very small mouths and cannot swallow large amounts of Antarctic krill in one bite like whales.
Therefore, in nature, it is difficult for seals to feed themselves by simply eating krill. They must go to deeper sea areas to prey on some slightly larger cold-water fish.
In fact, Antarctic krill is also a very delicate marine creature. Although there are many of them, their vitality is not strong at all.
In aquariums, Antarctic krill will even cannibalize each other.
When Antarctic krill are not fed in an aquarium, they shed their shells and shrink in size, something that other animals do not do. Scientists speculate that this may be an adaptation of Antarctic krill to the limited food supply in winter.
The water temperature in the Southern Ocean is low all year round, and the salinity does not change much. There is no interference from other factors such as rivers and runoff. Such a stable environment makes krill delicate and have poor adaptability, and they cannot adapt to slight changes in the environment.