The World of Animals (7)

FAST SWIMMERS: SEALS

These cute animals, which most of you know from television and from circuses, spend most of their lives in the water. They are very good swimmers and divers. They are just as happy and comfortable in water and on glaciers as we are on land. Even in spring, the temperature of their habitat remains around -5 degrees Centigrade (23F). While we have to put on clothes and take many precautions, they don't feel cold at all. Because their fur and the fat they store in their body prevent them from being cold.

Seals live in crowded groups. How do you think a mother seal recognises her young in the group? That is easy. After delivery, the mother seal gives her cub a welcome kiss from which she becomes acquainted with the baby's smell and distinguishes it from all other cub seals.

At birth, a kind of oil called the "baby oil" covers the cub's body. Thanks to this oil, the little body always stays warm. This oil is so dense that during the swimming lessons the cub takes from its mother it floats on the surface of water as if wearing a life buoy. That is because this oil is lighter than water. Swimming lessons for the cub take about two weeks. Once it is over, the seal cub becomes entirely self-reliant.

As is in the case of all other animals, seals are also given by Allah features suiting their environment. This is another sign showing us the mercy of our Lord.

PENGUINS IN THEIR TUXEDOS

Waddling penguins are actually a bird species that can't fly. They form big colonies. They have been created so perfectly by Allah that they can even survive in a region where the temperature can sometimes be as low as -88 degrees Centigrade (-126F). Think for a moment: we put on our jumpers, socks, gloves, coats etc., in winter. But, penguins need none of these. They do not even wear shoes. However, they can easily walk on ice without slipping. This apart, penguins do not have houses, they simply live on ice. Don't they ever feel cold? The answer is "No", because Allah has especially created them in a way that they can survive in an icy environment.

The body features of penguins are very different from those of human beings. Shall we have a look at them?

In winter, these cute creatures, that belong to a group of 400000 members, decide to migrate south from the coast further into the icy cold of Antarctica! This consensus they reach is a great miracle in itself. That penguins understand the approach of winter, that they collectively decide on a destination and time to migrate and their compliance with all these decisions without objections from any of the members can only be explained by Allah's overall control of them. Otherwise, it would be impossible for thousands of penguins to reach agreement and migrate to another habitat.

The migratory season is also the mating season for penguins. At this time of the year what a penguin primarily does is choose a mate for itself. The second step is to learn the song of the mate in order not to lose her. In other words, the male penguin has the ability to distinguish a specific sound from all other sounds. Remember that it is only by the Will of Allah that a penguin - a creature bereft of wisdom and intelligence as understood by humans - can choose a mate for himself among four hundred thousand penguins and recognise her voice.

This sensitivity in distinguishing voices also holds true for baby penguins. They can recognise their parents by their voices alone. If there were no such distinction among these animals, who are very much alike one another, chaos would be inevitable. The unique order established by Allah for penguins and the features given to them secure an orderly life for penguins.

After mating, the female penguin lays only one egg. The responsibility of the male penguin is to incubate this egg. At a temperature as low as -30 degrees Centigrade (-22 F), he tries to fulfil this responsibility without moving for 65 days. This is indeed a tough time for the male penguin. Because he guards the egg, he has no chance to hunt. The mother penguin, on the other hand, leaves to find food for the coming baby.

Can you imagine waiting for 65 days without eating anything? For a human being, the result would certainly be death. However, penguins make this sacrifice without displaying any impatience or boredom, and fulfil the service inspired in them by Allah until they complete it.

After an incubation period of two months, the male penguin loses 1/3 of his weight. In the same case, a human being of 60 kilograms (132 pounds) would lose 20 kilograms (44 pounds). After the egg hatches, the baby penguin spends its first two months between his parent's feet. This protection is vital for the baby because leaving this warm place for only a couple of minutes would result in death. It is surely Allah Who inspires the parents to protect their baby in this way. In this, we once again witness that Allah is the Protector of all living beings. Furthermore, the penguin colony, which has 400000 members, displays a perfect example of solidarity by gathering together and sticking close to one another to protect themselves and each other from the polar climate. By such precautions, these animals manage to keep their colony warm because they decrease the heat loss by half. Meanwhile, they take those penguins remaining on the outer edge of the circle one by one into the colony, and ensure that they also are warm. Penguins have lived in great harmony for generations and they will continue to maintain this order without even one member raising an objection to it.

FISHER PUFFINS

You might never have heard this animal's name before, but, as you get to know him, you will both enjoy him and come to like him a lot.

Most people assume the puffin to be a kind of penguin. However, the puffin is actually a different kind of bird. Unlike a penguin, a puffin can fly, which is the greatest difference between them. Puffins live at the North Pole whereas penguins live at the South Pole. What they have in common is that both species can easily adapt themselves to a cold environment.

Puffins have very interesting lives. The mother and father puffins never leave one another all through their lives, and raise a young puffin every year.

In the breeding season, the lines on their beaks, which are usually dull, turn a bright colour. Yet, this colour change does not occur accidentally. These lines, which serve a particular purpose, have been given especially to puffins by Allah. Thanks to these lines, puffins use their beaks like flags and thus communicate with one another over long distances.

Can you make a single line appear on your nose when you want to do so? Let's assume that there exists such a line at birth. Can you turn it into an indistinct pattern or make it disappear? We can already hear you saying "No", because you already know that it is only our Lord Who can accomplish such artistry!

It is easy for our Lord to create various kinds of birds and to endow them with features suiting their habitats. Similarly, it is easy for Him to create a line on their beaks or to make it disappear.

Allah, Who has created puffins so beautifully, has also given them some other striking features. Now, let's continue examining these features:

Once they are six weeks old, young puffins leave their parents and begin to fly over the open sea.

A healthy puffin lives for about 25 years.

Puffins can dive very deep. Do you know what awaits a human being who wants to dive as deep as a puffin? First of all, he needs an oxygen supply. Besides that, he risks his life since the pressure on one increases as one dives deeper and deeper. For this reason, diving requires great mastery. How did puffins learn the techniques necessary to keep their breath in deep water and to get back to the surface again? Our Lord once again shows us His sublimity and the uniqueness of His artistry in creation.

Here is another beautiful aspect of the puffin: The mouth structure of puffins enables them to hold many little fish in their mouths. Indeed, a puffin can hold 62 fish at a time. The mother has only one purpose in holding so many fish in her mouth: to feed her babies! So, if you see a puffin with many fish in its mouth, remember that it has a baby to feed.

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