Pinnipeds, including true seals, walruses, and sea lions and fur seals, are a widely distributed and diverse clade of semiaquatic marine mammals. There are 33 living species, and more than 50 extinct species have been described from fossils. They have streamlined bodies and four limbs that have evolved into flippers. Males typically mate with more than one female, and the females raise the pups, often born in the spring and summer months. Pinnipeds generally prefer colder waters and spend most of their time in the water, but come ashore to mate, give birth, molt or escape from predators such as sharks and killer whales. Humans have hunted seals since at least the Stone Age, and commercial sealing had a devastating effect on some species from the introduction of firearms through the 1960s. Populations have also been reduced or displaced by accidental trapping and marine pollution. All pinniped species are now afforded some protections under international law.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinniped
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1608:
French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec City. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_City
1767:
Midshipman Robert Pitcairn sighted Pitcairn Island, subsequently named after him, during an expeditionary voyage led by Philip Carteret. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitcairn_Islands
1844:
The last known pair of great auks, the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus, were killed in Eldey, off the coast of Iceland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_auk
1988:
United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655
2013:
Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi led a coalition to remove the President of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, from power and suspended the Egyptian constitution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Egyptian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
Panglossian: 1. (pejorative) Naively or unreasonably optimistic. 2. (pejorative) Of or relating to the view that this is the best of all possible worlds. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Panglossian
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
This is what makes time travel possible: the flux capacitor! --Back to the Future https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Back_to_the_Future