|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
| SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION |
|
| COMMON NAME: |
harp seal |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Mammalia |
| ORDER: |
Pinnipedia |
| FAMILY: |
Phocidae |
| GENUS SPECIES: |
Pagophilus groenlandicus
|
| 2 subspecies recognized: |
| P. g. groenlandicus – eastern Canadian Arctic and subarctic, east to Jan Mayen, including waters around Greenland and Iceland. |
| P. g. oceanicus – White and Barents seas, Norway, and north central Russia. |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| DESCRIPTION: |
Harp seals have a long, wide, and flattened head. The muzzle tapers and may appear upturned in some adults. The relatively small foreflippers are slightly pointed and angular.
|
| Harp seals have the most complicated coat changes of any pinniped: |
| A newborn pup is pure white, with possible yellowish-staining. This whitecoat lasts about 12 days and is followed by a greycoat. |
| Once they have completely molted out of their lanugo at about 3 to 4 weeks of age, they are known as “beaters” until they are about 13 to 14 months old. This coloration is countershaded with darker grey above and silver gray below with many spots and blotches. |
| After their next molt, they are known as "bedlamers," as the dark harp pattern begins to form and their spots start to disappear. |
| When all of the spots disappear, they are known as "old harps." Some harp seals that retain their spots are called "spotted harps." The adult coloration is silvery-white to light gray. The harp pattern consists of wide bands with ragged edges at the pelvis that dip and then connect over the shoulders. The face, chin, upper neck and top of the head are black. |
|
| SIZE: |
|
| MALE |
To 1.9 m (6.23 ft.) |
| FEMALE |
To 1.8 m (5.9 ft.) |
|
| WEIGHT: |
|
| MALE |
135 kg (297.6 lb.) |
| FEMALE |
120 kg (264.6 lb.) |
|
| DIET: |
Crustaceans and fishes including capelin, arctic cod, and polar cod. |
|
| GESTATION: |
7.5 months with an additional 11 week delayed implantation. |
| NURSING DURATION |
2-3 weeks |
|
| SEXUAL MATURITY: |
|
| FEMALE |
Between 4 and 7 years of age. |
|
|
|
| RANGE: |
Arctic and North Atlantic oceans and adjacent areas including Hudson Bay and Baffin Island, east to Cape Chelyuskin, Russia. |
|
| HABITAT: |
Inhabits pack ice |
|
| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
unknown |
| REGIONAL |
Northwestern North Atlantic: 5.2 million individuals |
| White Sea: 1.5-2 million individuals |
| "West Ice" near Jan Mayen: 296,000 individuals |
|
| STATUS: |
IUCN |
Lower Risk/least concern |
| CITES |
Appendix I |
| USFWS |
Not listed |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| 1. |
Harp seal dives can last an average of 16 minutes. The maximum dive depth recorded during a study is 370 m (1,214 ft.). |
| |
|
| 2. |
Harp seals congregate to pup (whelp) on pack ice, forming huge groups. Pups are born from late February to mid-March. |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| Harp seals have been commercially hunted since the 1600s for oil, pelts, and meat. Heated controversy still surrounds the hunting of harp seal pups for their white fur coat. Modern hunts are better regulated than historical hunts, however harp seals are still commercially valuable. |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| Bonner, N. Seals and Sea Lions of the World. New York. Facts on File, Inc. 2004. |
| |
| Byrum, J. Pinnipeds From Pole to Pole: Seals, Sea Lions and Walruses. SeaWorld Education Department Publication. San Diego. SeaWorld, Inc. 2000. |
| |
|
Jefferson, T.J. Leatherwood, S. and M.A. Webber. FAO Species Identification Guide. Marine Mammals of the World. Rome. FAO, 1993. |
| |
| Nowak, Ronald M. (ed.). Walker's Marine Mammals of the World. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003. |
| |
| Parker, S. (ed.). Grizmek's Encyclopedia of Mammals. Vol. IV. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., 1990. |
| |
| 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. |
| |
| Reeves, R.R., Stewart, B.S. and S. Stephen. The Sierra Club Handbook of Seals and Sirenians. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1992. |
| |
| Ridgway, S.H. and R.J. Harrison (Eds). Handbook of Marine Mammals: Volume 2: Seals. London. Academic Press, 1981. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
