The Pinniped Post

It is a fact that Pinnipeds are cute.  Really, this post should not exist because it is such a commonly-known fact.  See, for example, my photo below of Cobh, the pupper Harbor Seal at the Mystic Aquarium. Cute. However, there may be some of you out there who want proof that Pinnipeds are cute.  Fine. What people find cute has been studied by Psychologists.  For example, in the paper " Baby Schema In Human and Animal Faces Induces Cuteness Perception and Gaze Allocation in Children " Psychologists found that people find the attributes of having a round face, big eyes, high forehead, small nose, and small mouth as being judged as "cute" when given a set of photos of different people, babies, and animals to examine. Pinnipeds fit all of these attributes.  Round face and big eyes?  Always. Also, derpiness is cuteness Small nose and mouth?  Of course! Fur Seal is upset that you would question his cuteness. High forehead...

With the exception of the Baikal Seals that live in freshwater in the Caspian Sea, Seals live in the salty oceans.  However, every now and then you can read about a Seal who swam up a freshwater river. These rivers that the Seals were found in are freshwater, so Seals can survive in freshwater for some amount of time as long as there are fish to eat.  I like to think that they also hunt for wild jello cubes, but I have never seen a jello cube outside of an aquarium. So, what kind of water is in a Seal habitat at aquariums - freshwater or saltwater?  Members of the "Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums" (an organization that comes up with guidelines for aquariums and marine mammal parks to follow to keep marine mammals happy and safe) keep water salinity (the amount of salt in the water) at not less than 22 Parts Per Thousand, per guidelines found at  https://www.ammpa.org/membership/standards-guidelines .  That is about 4 teaspoons o...