Young seals put eels in their nostrils, just to keep up with the trend? | Nature Trumpet

In recent years, researchers have discovered a strange phenomenon among young Hawaiian monk seals - some of them seem to have grown "elephant trunks", but upon closer inspection, they turned out to be just ordinary eels .

Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program

Wait, eel? Yes, that long, thin eel!

How come an eel grows out of a normal nostril? Is this the seal's moral decline or the eel's desperate counterattack?

Huh? What's the new trend of putting eels in nostrils?

There is a creature with a round head, big eyes, and fat beard. It often lies alone on the beach and relaxes. Seeing them in a stable mental state, it feels like I am healed. This is the Hawaiian monk seal , a species unique to the Hawaiian Islands. Usually, they either forage among the coral reefs or rest on the beach. They are cute, but unfortunately they are on the verge of extinction.

Hawaiian monk seal (Neomonachus schauinslandi) | MARKSULLIVAN/CC BY-SA 3.0

In December 2018, the Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Project posted a photo of a seal with an eel stuck in its nose on Facebook, and said: They had discovered this phenomenon as early as 2016. While patrolling the beach, researchers found a long eel hanging in the nostrils of an underage monk seal.

In the two years since then, young seals with eels stuck in their nostrils have appeared from time to time in the researchers' field of vision , and the researchers did not sit idly by - they grabbed the eel's tail and kept pulling and pulling. After more than 30 seconds, they finally pulled the eel out of the seal's nose.

The monk seal was fine after the eel was removed, but unfortunately, the poor eel that was stuck in its nostril did not survive.

Seal: It doesn't matter, I don't care if the eel lives or dies｜Andy Collins/NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries

Why did the eel appear in this inappropriate location? Charles Littnan, chief scientist of the Hawaiian monk seal research program, said that as long as you observe nature long enough, you will always see some incomprehensible and wonderful events . These mysteries may not be solved before he retires, and this is the fun of studying natural science.

Did the noodles go into his nose? Was it intentional?

Littnan and his colleagues have speculated on three possibilities. Since all the eel-insertion incidents occurred in young seals, they attributed the incident to the seals' " young age and ignorance ."

The first guess

First of all, is the eel in the nostrils the last stubbornness of the eel that resists to the end ?

The prey that monk seals like is always hidden in coral reefs. Faced with the hidden delicacies, monk seals without hands can only hunt with their faces - they will insert their faces into the crevices of the coral reefs, and then use their mouths to spray water to flush out the prey hiding inside.

Littnan speculated that perhaps the eels hiding in the coral reefs were caught in a trap and had no choice but to attack the nostrils of their natural enemies . The young seals, who were not experienced enough, might not have closed their nostrils tightly enough, so they succeeded.

Hawaiian monk seal underwater | N3kt0n / Wikimedia Commons

But Littnan himself thinks this theory is not very tenable. Monk seals will reflexively close their nostrils when diving. The muscles that close their nostrils are actually quite developed, and it is difficult for any animal to push them open (don't try to stick your fingers into their nostrils). Moreover, the eels that are inserted into the seals' nostrils are quite thick, and it is hard to imagine under what circumstances the eels would be willing to squeeze into such a hole.

The second guess

Second guess: Did the seal eat the noodles and get them up its nose?

Seals have a habit of regurgitating their prey after eating it - first vomiting the food out of their stomachs and then eating it again immediately, probably to spit out the sand and water in the prey.

Perhaps the young monk seal was not proficient in rumination techniques and accidentally sprayed the eel out of its nostrils while ruminating, just like we accidentally choke on noodles when eating them .

But Littnan still thinks this is unlikely - after all, when we eat noodles as thick as our nostrils, no matter how big our sneeze is, it is unlikely that the noodles will be sucked into our noses.

The third guess

Littnan believes that the most convincing reason may simply be because of youth and frivolity .

Adolescent monk seals, like adolescent humans, create a lot of trouble out of nowhere, and like foolish young humans, it may be that one juvenile monk seal does something stupid —accidentally or somehow gets a moray eel up its nose—and the rest of the monk seals copy it without regard for the consequences.

We should always be more tolerant towards teenagers｜Hawaiʻi Marine Animal Response

After all, a seal with a moray eel in its nose is so cool. Your pendant is so cool, try it on me too.

Adorable monk seals face a big crisis

Although no seals have been found to be harmed by this behavior (but many eels have been), it is still dangerous for seals to have eels stuck in their noses.

Putting aside whether you will be scolded by your parents for playing with food, it is not a wise choice to leave animal carcasses in your nostrils for a long time. First, the eel carcasses will affect the airtightness of your nostrils during diving ; second, the eel carcasses will gradually rot, and the bacteria that grow in them will also have a great impact on the health of the seal .

Brenda Becker, NOAA

However, for the endangered group of monk seals, eels in their nostrils are not the biggest threat.

Hawaiian monk seals are the only seals that live in the tropics . Their lives are very difficult. Climate change has caused the degradation of coral reefs, the reduction of food, the fishing nets and hooks left by human activities, and the single genetic diversity of the population has made its population fragile... Each of them is much more deadly than the eel dangling in the nostrils. Affected by human activities and climate change, there are only about 1,500 monk seals left now , and they are listed as endangered species by IUCN.

I hope people can pay more attention to marine protection and climate change, so that cute little creatures like monk seals (although they weigh up to 400 kilograms when they are adults) can be more active in our common home.

References

[1]https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/12/07/make-better-choices-endangered-hawaiian-monk-seals-keep-getting-eels-stuck-up-their-noses-scientists-want-them-stop/

[2]https://www.facebook.com/HMSRP/photos/a.645951835444837/2534312423275426/?type=3&theater

[3]https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/mammals/how-do-common-seals-hunt

Author: Li Xiaoya

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Image source: Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program