The Lab With Brad

The Lab With Brad


Ep 234: Seals and sea otters

September 05, 2019

Seals and sea otters

Last time we talked about the whales, and how some of them turn out to be rather clever. The whales and dolphins aren’t the only mammals who have returned to the sea. We’ve also got things like seals and sea otters. Some of them are rather clever as well. In fact the sea otter is a tool user. Does going back to the ocean make a species smarter?

Here’s an article about marine mammal intelligence in general.

Intelligence and Cognition (marine mammals)

Here’s a fossil of a seal, before they were seals.

Puijila, the walking seal – a beautiful transitional fossil

Here’s an article about seals and their memory.

Seals remember what they just did

Here’s a blog post about the large and dangerous leopard seal.

Danger Beneath the Water: 10 Facts About Leopard Seals

And, more or less for fun, here’s a video of a sea otter playing basketball.

Sea Otter Hoop Dreams