A Message from the Sea Ice
One World English Course 2 (Heisei 24) pg. 90-94
| A Message from the Sea Ice | |
|---|---|
| 流氷の伝言 | |
| Details | |
| Word count | 358 |
| Book | One World |
| Grade | 2 |
| Year | 2012 |
Sea ice has a cycle. It starts to appear in the fall. In the middle of winter, it grows big and thick. It looks like white land, just like this picture.
People and animals can walk on it. In the spring, the weather gets warm, and the sea ice melts and disappears.
Mother harp seals have their babies on sea ice, because it is a safe place for the babies. Killer whales and polar bears cannot attack them. Baby seals are yellow at birth, but soon become white. White is a safe color on ice.
The mother seal and her baby stay together only for two weeks. The mother seal does not eat at all during that time. The sea ice is always floating and moving. So if the mother leaves the ice to catch fish, she may never find her baby again.
The mother seal gives milk to the baby seal, and the baby grows big and fat. After about ten days, it learns from its mother how to swim. It can float, but cannot swim or dive well.
After two weeks, the mother seal leaves her baby on the ice and never comes back. The baby misses its mother and tries to find another seal. If you look at this picture, you can see baby seals here and there on the sea ice.
Sea ice is a safe place for baby seals. In two weeks, they become thin, and their color changes from white to gray. Now the young seals are ready to swim and catch fish by themselves. Just in time, the sea ice starts to melt. Soon, the young seals become good swimmers, and they can live safely in the water.
However, something is wrong in this picture. This baby seal cannot swim yet, but the sea ice is already melting. Killer whales may come to eat it any time.
Because of global warming, sea ice is melting very early. As a result, up to 75% of the 700,000 Canadian baby harp seals died in 2002.
What can we do to save the baby seals? We cannot wait too long. We should act quickly.
