





Airdate: Mar 24, 2000

Scientist: Vic Van Valenberg

MOOSE: Underwater Eating Your browser does not support the audio tag. After a long winter, moose often have to take a plunge to find sustenance.

Transcript:

The name moose comes from the Algonquin word meaning, "he strips bear." But come springtime, after a long winter without food, most moose aren't stripping the leaves and bark off trees. More likely they're dunking their heads underwater. I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by DuPont.

We're listening to the sounds of a moose in the water foraging for food.

Vic Van Valenberg is a Research Wildlife Biologist with the US Forest Service in Alaska's Denali National Park.

"Well moose, in many areas of the country spend a lot of time in the water feeding. "

Aquatic plants are crucial to the moose's diet: they're high in protein, and sodium. Now more often than not, these plants are completely submerged, which means that if he wants to eat, a moose must take the plunge.

"In fact they may actually go completely underwater and disappear and dive to the bottom. I think there's one record where someone once measured the depth of the water where a moose was feeding and it was about twenty feet deep, but more typically they stand in shallow ponds and they feed on a wide variety of plants that grow in the water."

Moose have adapted well to their conditions. They can actually close their nostrils, and stay underwater for a long time feeding on submerged plants - before they finally come up for air.

To hear some of your favorite Pulse of the Planet programs online, please visit nationalgeographic.com. Pulse of the Planet is presented by DuPont, bringing you the miracles of science, with additional support provided by the National Science Foundation. I'm Jim Metzner.















