Although elephant seals have strong resistance to cold, they are not immune to the cold.
It is snowing heavily now, and they need to find a place to shelter from the wind and snow.
"Captain, should we get it on board?" Fang Youqun asked anxiously.
"How to do it?" Xiang Yang asked back.
Fang Youqun opened his mouth, not knowing how to answer.
Xiang Yang shook his head and said, "This elephant seal weighs at least two tons. A hand-thrown fishing net simply cannot bear its weight. A boat net is not practical. Although this elephant seal is so agile in the sea, once it is out of the sea, its agility immediately drops several levels. It is impossible for it to climb onto our boat by its own ability."
"But this elephant seal is so pitiful. It's so cold, and it has to soak in the icy sea water and get wet in the snow," said Fang Youqun.
Xiang Yang burst out laughing when he heard this. "Don't worry. Your worry about whether the elephant seal will freeze to death is the same as your worry about whether the fish will drown. It's impossible."
Creatures like seals can rely on their fat bodies to survive an entire winter in the ice and snow. If they were frozen to death by the next snow, they would have become extinct long ago.
As expected.
After the elephant seal tried to jump a few more times and failed to reach the overtime target, it immediately stopped wasting energy on useless efforts.
I saw it standing upright in the sea, with its head floating above the water. It slowly closed its eyes and then remained in this strange posture without moving.
The snow was so heavy that it soon covered the elephant seal's head.
The crew members looked at each other immediately.
Fang Youqun asked tentatively: "Captain, could this elephant seal have been frozen to death? Didn't you say that elephant seals can't be frozen to death?"
"They are saving their energy and waiting for the snowstorm to pass, so how come they appear to be frozen to death in your mouths? Have you ever seen a frozen fish lying upright in the water?" Xiang Yang laughed.
The subcutaneous fat of elephant seals is very thick, reaching up to 87 mm. A 4-meter-long male elephant seal can produce 32.5 liters of oil. Such creatures are more cold-resistant than polar bears, so how could they be frozen to death
It is no exaggeration to say that even though the penguin was frozen to death, this elephant seal is still alive and well.
When it comes to cold-resistant animals, many people think that the most cold-resistant animals are polar bears or penguins, but this is not actually the case.
There are many animals in the world that are more cold-resistant than penguins, and seals are one of them.
Another example is the lynx, a cat species that likes the cold very much. Most of them live in snow-capped mountains. It is the northernmost distributed cat species and is considered to be the least cold-fearing cat species.
If Xiang Yang were asked to rank all animals in terms of their ability to withstand the cold, he believed that the animal least afraid of the cold would be the tardigrade.
Tardigrades can be said to be the most tenacious species on the planet. They can withstand terrifying temperatures as low as minus 200 degrees Celsius and can live in a vacuum.
Because tardigrades are creatures that have their own resurrection armor, they have the secret of "cryptobiology". When they are in an adverse environment, they can slow down their life metabolism to the point of almost stopping, and remain in a state of suspended animation for a long time.
When in suspended animation, the tardigrade's body will dry up, causing its metabolism to completely stop, and it may even lose its vitality completely.
However, as long as they encounter water, tardigrades can be revived.
Xiang Yang thinks the second one should be the ice worm.
Ice worms are mainly distributed in coastal glaciers in the northern Pacific Ocean. They are the only known animals that live in ice and are the most cold-resistant organisms known to date except for the compound tardigrades.
Ice worms are very secretive animals, and their enzymes remain active at temperatures close to 0°C.
Ice worms are not only resistant to cold but also to hunger. They are only afraid of heat and environmental pollution.
If the temperature exceeds 5°C, the enzyme will digest the cell membrane and dissolve the ice worm itself into a pool of water.
Although humans currently do not know the extreme cold tolerance of ice worms, the fact that they can live in the cold ice for a long time is something that not all animals can do.
In third place, undoubtedly, is the Arctic duck.
The Arctic duck is a creature that is more cold-resistant than the polar bear and can withstand temperatures as low as minus 110 degrees Celsius.
Under the feathers of Arctic ducks, there is a layer of fine down that wraps around their bodies like a blanket to help them resist the cold.
Most Arctic ducks live in the Arctic all year round, usually resting and sleeping on the snow.
Although penguins are the symbol of Antarctica and are known for their cold resistance, strictly speaking, penguins need temperature, such as when incubating eggs.
"I heard that elephant seals don't eat Antarctic krill, but I don't know if it's true." Fang Youqun suddenly said at this time.
Xiang Yang was slightly stunned when he heard this, "Who told you this?"
Antarctic krill occupy a very important position in the entire Antarctic ecosystem, and they almost single-handedly feed the entire Antarctic ecosystem.
Almost all creatures that can survive in the ice and snow of Antarctica eat Antarctic krill.
To exaggerate a little, without Antarctic krill, there would be no Antarctic ecosystem.
"Captain, why are you paying attention to him? This guy must be trying to steal the krill shrimp porridge on the ship again." Chen Qingsheng smiled and exposed Fang Youqun's lie.
"Oh? Is that so?" Xiang Yang looked at Fang Youqun with a smile.
Fang Youqun was not embarrassed when his thoughts were exposed. He said frankly, "Brother Yang, Brother Sheng, we still have some porridge left on the boat. Let's feed the seal with the rest. Don't waste it. Look at it, it's so cute and pitiful."
Xiang Yang smiled and shook his head. "It's okay to give you porridge, but how are you going to feed it? Anyway, I won't agree to you bringing it on board."
Unlike the docile harp seal, the elephant seal has a violent temper and extremely high fighting capacity, making it the second most dangerous seal after the leopard seal.
Not to mention that there is no way to get this elephant seal to work overtime now, even if there is a way, Xiang Yang will definitely not do it.
In fact, many seals are dangerous, the leopard seal is the most representative among them.
Although most seals have relatively mild personalities, they are carnivorous after all. When food is scarce, they will even prey on animals of the same seal family.
In addition to preying on krill, seals also attack penguins and other marine life. Their sharp canine teeth are powerful tools for hunting and can penetrate the thick skin of penguins.
Seals are at the top of the Antarctic food chain, and in the area where they live, only killer whales can hunt them.
Xiang Yang was already taking a risk by getting a harp seal on board. If he also got an elephant seal on board, Xiang Yang's boat would become a seal nest.