Seals,Sea Lions,and Walruses

Sills, Sea Lions, and Walruses. Written by Catherine Follett.

《海豹、海狮与海象》 凯瑟琳·福利特 著

Meet the pinnipeds. You are sitting on a rock by the seashore. Suddenly, a pair of curious eyes peeks up from the water. As quickly as it came, the animal disappears. You are very lucky. You have seen a seal. Seals, along with sea lions and walruses, belong to a group of animals called

来认识鳍足类动物吧。 你正坐在海边的一块岩石上。 突然，一双好奇的眼睛从水里探了出来。 它来得飞快，消失得也同样飞快。 你可太幸运啦。 你刚才见到的就是海豹呀。 海豹和海狮、海象一样，都属于一类叫做

Penipeds are marine or ocean mammals. Mammals are animals that breathe air, have fur, and have live babies that drink their mother's milk. Penipeds include seals, sea lions, and walruses. Their name comes from a Greek word meaning fin -footed. Penipeds have flippers instead of feet. Penipeds are predators, which means they eat other animals.

鳍足类是生活在海洋里的哺乳动物。 哺乳动物会呼吸空气、长有毛发、胎生，幼崽靠喝母乳长大。 鳍足类包括海豹、海狮和海象。 它们的名字源自希腊语，意思是“长着鳍状脚”。 鳍足类长着鳍状肢，而非普通的脚。 鳍足类是食肉动物，也就是以其他动物为食。

Life in the ocean. Penipeds spend most of their lives in the ocean. They have flippers and long torpedo -shaped bodies to help them swim. These features make penipeds graceful in the water, but awkward on land. When a peniped goes underwater, its nose and throat shut automatically. Some seals can hold their breath for over an hour. Elephant seals can hold it for two.

海洋里的生活 鳍足类一生大部分时间都待在海洋中。 它们长着鳍状肢和鱼雷形的修长身体，帮助它们游泳。 这些特征让鳍足类在水中游动优雅，在陆地上却笨手笨脚。 鳍足类潜入水下时，鼻子和喉咙会自动闭合。 有些海豹可以屏住呼吸超过一个小时。 象海豹甚至可以闭气两个小时。

Most pinnipeds eat fish, squid, octopus, and shellfish, such as shrimp and clams. Pinnipeds must dive deep to find these animals. The southern elephant seal can dive over 1 ,500 meters, 5 ,000 feet. That is deeper than any other mammal can go. Pinnipeds have large eyes that can see in deep, dark water. They have good ears to hear their prey swimming around. They also have sensitive whiskers that can feel an animal swimming by or moving around on the ocean floor.

大多数鳍足类以鱼、鱿鱼、章鱼和虾、蛤蜊这类贝类为食。 鳍足类必须潜到深海才能找到这些猎物。 南象海豹可以潜到1500米，也就是5000英尺的深度。 这比其他任何哺乳动物潜得都要深。 鳍足类长着大眼睛，在漆黑的深海也能看见东西。 它们的耳朵很灵敏，能听到猎物在周围游动。 它们还有灵敏的胡须，能感知过路的猎物，或是海床活动的生物。

Keeping warm. Most pinnipeds live in cold oceans near the North and South Poles. How do pinnipeds keep warm? Many pinnipeds have dense fur with smooth hairs on the top and thick, fluffy hairs on the bottom. The fluffy hairs are waterproof. Pinnipeds also have a layer of fat called blubber that keeps heat inside their bodies. Some pinnipeds have blubber 10 centimeters, 4 inches thick.

保暖 大多数鳍足类生活在南北极附近的寒冷海域。 鳍足类是怎么保暖的呢？ 很多鳍足类长着浓密的毛发，外层光滑，内层厚实蓬松。 内层蓬松的毛发还可以防水。 鳍足类还有一层叫做鲸脂的脂肪，能把热量锁在体内。 有些鳍足类的鲸脂厚达10厘米，也就是4英寸。