Harbor Seal

Harbor Seal, medium-sized seal, with a short, thick fur coat covered with gray blotches. Its plump body may grow to about 2 m (about 6.6 ft) long. The seal has short front flippers, large eyes, and thick, prominent whiskers that are used as a tactile organ. Harbor seals live near shore in most warm temperate to cold climates in the northern hemispheric oceans. They range from Baja California north through the Aleutian Islands in the North Pacific Ocean, from central Florida north to and partially around Greenland in the western Atlantic Ocean, and south to northern Spain in the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

Harbor seals eat many different types of food, including shrimp  and other crustaceans, invertebrates  such as octopus, and a variety of fishes. Feeding is usually done alone; although aggregations may be seen feeding, there is no apparent cooperation between individuals. Harbor seals are gregarious, hauling out on land in groups that can number several hundred. However, unlike some other pinnipeds, harbor seals do not generally lie in contact with one another. They are shy on land, and human intrusion often causes them to return to the water.

The breeding season of harbor seals varies according to habitat and can be anytime from late winter to midautumn. Mating usually occurs in water, with little competition between males for access to females. It is believed that both males and females have several mates in one breeding season. Implantation of the fertilized egg is delayed for two to three months, so that the total gestation time is about ten months. A single pup is born in spring to midsummer and is weaned after three to six weeks.

Harbor seals have been hunted for food, fur, and lantern oil by indigenous peoples for hundreds, more probably thousands, of years. Some populations of these seals have also been culled in recent years because of perceived competition with human fisheries. In the late 1980s, a distemper virus killed thousands of harbor seals in the waters around northern Europe. Because of their proximity to human activities in Europe and parts of North America, the bodies of harbor seals often contain high concentrations of chemical substances such as heavy metals, PCBs, and DDT. Harbor seals have become subjects of ecotourism in Europe and especially along the beaches of California, Oregon, and Washington states.

Scientific classification: The harbor seal belongs to the family Phocidae of the suborder Pinnipedia, order Carnivora. It is classified as Phoca vitulina.

Contributed By:
Bernd G. Wursig

Harbor Seal Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2001. © 1993-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.