British media: A study shows that the seal uses a beard to track deep sea prey

[Global Times Comprehensive Report] The beard of seal not only adds a little cute to it, but also brings it a "prey" signal. According to the British "Guardian" reported on the 13th, a study published in the National Academy of Sciences held that the seal used the beard to track prey in the deep sea.

The scientific community has always had a assumption that the "secret weapons" hunted by animals are the beards on their bodies. To this end, scientists have conducted more than 20 years of experiments in the pool with artificial beards and blindfolds. The research team from the University of California San Cruz has recently confirmed this hypothesis through experiments. The research team placed a small camera with infrared night vision functions in the left cheeks, jaws, backs and heads of the northern elephant seals in Arnujaya Foshan Park. During the seasonal migration of seal, the research team recorded a total of 9 and a half hours of deep -sea shots.

Researchers noticed that at the initial stage, the beards of the seal first "pressed the soldiers". Once they reached a certain depth, they would swing back and forth to the beard to perceive the vibration caused by the prey in water. When the seal swims back to the water, the beard will curl back to the original position of the face. At the same time, the research team pointed out that seals can see some glowing creatures underwater and look for food through vision. (Xiaobei)

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