Question 1

True or false: Crabeater seals are known to attack humans on sight when approached.

Accepted Answer

False. They are generally docile and curious; attacks are extremely rare and usually defensive.

Question 2

True or false: Crabeater seals can dive to depths of over 500 meters while hunting.

Accepted Answer

False. They typically dive only 20–50 meters; deep dives over 500 meters are for elephant seals.

Question 3

True or false: Crabeater seals primarily eat krill, not crabs, despite their misleading name.

Accepted Answer

True. Their specialized sieve-like teeth filter krill from water; crabs rarely appear in their diet.

Question 4

True or false: Crabeater seals can live up to 60 years in the wild.

Accepted Answer

False. Their lifespan is typically 20–30 years; 60 years is more common for bowhead whales.

Question 5

True or false: Crabeater seals have a unique, comb-like tooth structure for straining krill from water.

Accepted Answer

True. Their multi-cusped teeth interlock to form a sieve, an adaptation shared with no other seal.

Question 6

True or false: Crabeater seals are the most abundant large mammal on Earth after humans.

Accepted Answer

True. With an estimated 15–30 million individuals, they outnumber all other seal species combined.

Question 7

True or false: Crabeater seals are the only seal species that migrates across the entire Antarctic continent.

Accepted Answer

False. They follow pack ice seasonally but don't cross the continent; no seal does.

Question 8

True or false: Crabeater seals often have scars from leopard seal attacks, showing a high predation rate.

Accepted Answer

True. Over 80% of adults bear scars from leopard seal bites, a key predator of pups.

Crabeater Seal Trivia Questions