We read that Crabeater seals do not eat crabs. What do they eat? How did they get their name if they don't eat crabs?
Answered by Chuck Amsler on 3/17/2004 1:21:59 PMThey eat krill, which is a very plentiful, shrimp-like animal (a crustacean) that is very, very important as a food item to many of the birds and seals. Crabeaters pretty much only eat krill. There are virtually no crabs in Antarctica. But the early explorers didn't know that and when they saw the scat from crabeaters, it looked like the remains of crabs to them. So that is how the seals got their name.
|