Avatar:Tiger seal

<infobox theme-source="nation"> <image source="image" /> <title source="name"><default>Tiger seal</default></title> <group> <header>General information</header> <label>Habitat</label> <label>Status</label> <label>Bending</label> <label>Uses</label> </group> <group> <header>Chronological information</header> <label>First appearance</label> <label>Last appearance</label> <label>Voiced by</label> </group> <header></header> </infobox> The tiger seal, also known as the zebra seal or the polar sea lion, is an animal that lives in the icy bays of the South Pole region.

History

Among the Southern Water Tribe, the tiger seals were used as natural warning systems, as the animals would loudly howl at ships or other potential threats which approached the South Pole region. When Avatar Aang was released from the iceberg in 99 AG, a beam of light shot up into the sky, this woke several tiger seals who started to howl in unison.

A few days later, Aang used dried seal blubber that Sokka had brought to light the campfire. The next morning, a hungry Sokka discovered that his blubber was gone, and when he asked what had happened, Aang told him what had occurred, leading Sokka to comment on the flames' nice smell.

Anatomy

The tiger seal exhibits facial features that are predominantly feline, with a cat-like snout, ears, and whiskers. The rest of the creature resembles a seal, with flippers, a sleek body, and a tail. The adult tiger seal is gray with a pattern of lateral black stripes along its body and head.

Behavior

Tiger seals howl loudly when disturbed or at night.

The tiger seal is an aquatic creature native to the South Pole region. The markings enable it to hide and get closer to fish without them noticing. Its main food source is the otter penguin.

On land, tiger seals prefer to lie together in large masses to relax and sleep. They howl loudly when disturbed, with nearly everything being disturbing to resting tiger seals. When one member of the species begins to howl, all others in the vicinity pick up their signal and also raise their voice, quickly causing a chain reaction and a massive commotion.

Connection

The tiger seal resembles both the tiger and the seal aesthetically. The seal has large flippers as forelimbs and its body is streamlined, narrowing into a substantial tail. The creature is a play on the real-life leopard seal.

Trivia

• In The Last Airbender, Sokka and Katara find Aang frozen in an iceberg while following tiger seal tracks.
• Ba Sing Se's Wen Bakery offered a special pastry called Tiger-Seal Rolls, cream-filled cakes shaped like round tiger-seals with their characteristic stripes.
• Katara considered tiger seals deeply annoying, as their howling often kept her up all night in her youth.

See also

• Fauna in the World of Avatar