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This is Zak - a two-year old Californian sea-lion. |
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Like humans, sea-lions are mammals. Their basic body make-up is very similar to ours - but they've adapted to living in the water. |
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Zak has a thick coat of blubber all over his body which keeps him warm when he's under water. Plus, his body is bullet-shaped, allowing him to accelerate very fast in the water - up to 30 miles per hour! |
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That speed comes thanks to his front flippers, which are perfectly shaped for paddling. Look at the bone structure. Compared to a human hand, you can see that it's very similar. It looks a bit like a human hand with a mitten on - perfect for pushing water out of the way! |
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But unlike humans, sea-lions can hold their breath for between 10 and 15 minutes and can swim to a depth of 200m. Don't try that yourself! |
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And sea-lions work just as well out of water too. They have to - because they live on land. |
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Sea-lions can swivel, allowing them to move easily over rocky terrain. They also gallop and climb too - making them very agile. |
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A sea-lion's eyes are forward-pointing which means they're very good at catching things. But the water in which sealions hunt is often murky, so they rely on whiskers to help. |
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The whiskers are very sensitive, mobile and controllable. They pick up vibrations in the water, helping them to detect the location of fish. Even blind sea-lions can hunt fish successfully! |
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It's those whiskers that enable some sea-lions to balance balls on their noses. The whiskers touch the ball all the way around, so if the ball overbalances the sea-lion knows to adjust position. |
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Sea-lions are truly beautiful creatures - and they're good kissers too! Eww! |
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