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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
harbor
seal |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Mammalia |
| ORDER: |
Pinnipedia |
| FAMILY: |
Phocidae |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Phoca
vitulina |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
Harbor
seals have a rounded head with a fairly blunt snout
and, like other true seals, lack external ear pinnae.
They exhibit a wide range of color variations, from
silver with black spots, to black with gray or white
rings, to almost pure white. |
| MALE |
Adult
males are slightly larger than adult females |
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| SIZE: |
At
birth, harbor seal pups are about 756-100 mm (29.5-39.4
in.) in length |
| MALE |
Up
to about 2.0 m (6.6 ft.) |
| FEMALE |
Up
to 1.7 m (5.6 ft.) |
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| WEIGHT: |
Newborn
harbor seal pups weigh from 8-12 kg (8-26 lbs.) |
| MALE |
Males
weigh as much as 170 kg (375 lb.) |
| FEMALE |
Females
weigh up to 150 kg (331 lb.) |
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| DIET: |
Squid,
crustaceans, mollusks, and fishes |
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| GESTATION: |
Gestational
period 9-11 months; with 1.5-3 months delayed implantation |
| ESTRAL
PERIOD |
At
the end of lactation |
| NURSING
DURATION |
4-6
weeks (wean) |
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| SEXUAL
MATURITY: |
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| MALE |
3-7
years |
| FEMALE |
2-7
years |
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| RANGE: |
Temperate,
Arctic and subarctic waters throughout the Northern
Hemisphere. One subspecies, Phoca vitulina mellonae,
is a landlocked group of harbor seals living in
freshwater Seal Lake in Quebec, Canada. |
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| HABITAT: |
Cobble
or sandy beaches, rocky reefs, tidal mudflats and
sandbars along the coast or in bays or estuaries |
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
400,000-500,000 |
| LOCAL |
The
most abundant subspecies is P.v. richardsi
- an estimated 200,000 individuals inhabit the eastern
North Pacific from the Pribilof Islands to Baja
California, Mexico |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
Not
listed |
| CITES |
Not
listed |
| USFWS |
Not
listed |
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| 1. |
Harbor
seals belong to the scientific order Pinnipedia,
which includes seals, sea lions, and walruses. Seals
differ from sea lions in a number of ways, including
having shorter, stouter flippers, and no visible
earflaps. |
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| 2. |
Unlike most other pinnipeds, harbor seals are generally
solitary and rarely interact with one another. An
exception to this is the strong mother-pup bond
maintained until the pup is weaned. When hauled
out, adults maintain a meter or more (several feet)
between them. Harbor seals are not highly communicative,
but if threatened a seal may respond by snorting,
growling, lunging, scratching, or other aggressive
gestures. |
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| 3. |
Harbor seals swim with alternate back-and-forth
movements of their hind flippers. Harbor seals can
remain submerged for up to 28 minutes and dive to
depths of 90 m (295 ft.); however, they routinely
forage in shallower waters. |
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| 4. |
Harbor
seals along the Pacific coast usually give birth
between February and July. The well-developed pup
may measure up to 100 cm (39 in.) and 12 kg (26
lb.). A pup nurses for four to six weeks. Its mother's
milk, containing as much as 45% milk fat, enables
the pup to more than double its weight by the time
it's weaned. |
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| 5. |
For
more information about harbor seals, explore the
harbor
seal info book. |
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| As
for other marine mammals, the U.S. Marine Mammal
Protection Act of 1972 protects harbor seals in
U.S. waters. |
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| |
|
|
|
Byrum,
J. Pinnipeds From Pole to Pole: Seals, Sea
Lions and Walruses. SeaWorld Education Department
Publication. San Diego. SeaWorld, Inc. 2000.
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| |
|
Jefferson, T.J. Leatherwood, S. and M.A. Webber.
FAO Species Identification Guide. Marine Mammals
of the World. Rome. FAO, 1993. |
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|
Reeves, R.R., Stewart, B.S. and S. Stephen. The
Sierra Club Handbook of Seals and Sirenians.
San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1992.
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| Nowak,
Ronald M. (ed.). Walker's Mammals of the World.
Vol. II. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University
Press, 1991. |
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| Parker,
S. (ed.). Grizmek's Encyclopedia of Mammals.
Vol. IV. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co.,
1990. |
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| Reeves,
R. R., Stewart, B.S., Clapman, P.J., and J.A. Powell
(Peter Folkens illustrator). National Audubon
Society: Guide to Marine Mammals of the World.
New York: Random House, 2002. |
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| Riedman,
M. The Pinnipeds: Seals, Sea Lions and Walruses.
Berkeley and Los Angeles. University of California
Press. 1990. |
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| http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu |
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