When there are oil spills or chemical spills in the water it can destroy a large number of seals very quickly. Due to their appearances, harp seals are frequently thought of as having … Seal Protection. Harp seals are about the same size as harbour seals, although unlike them, there is relatively little difference in size between the males and females. Mother harbor seals raise their pups in nurseries—groups of mothers and their young—that help protect the seals from predators. The seal that I blogged about on Saturday night and said was a harbor seal, may be a harp seal (lifer mammal for me). Seals, sea lions, and walruses are all in the order Carnivora and suborder Pinnipedia, thus they are called “pinnipeds.” Pinnipeds are mammals that are well-adapted for swimming. These sleek swimmers cruise the chilly waters and feed on fish and crustaceans. Spring brings harbor seal colonies … Harbor seals are relatively small (1.5 meters, or 5 feet long), with a coat that varies somewhat with age, wetness and between individuals. As harbor porpoise's echolocate, they are expected to have a more complex auditory system than that of the harp seal. Harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus) are meat-eating pinnipeds that live in both the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, in frigid waters off of Russia, Norway, Greenland and Canada, to name a few locales. The seal appeared in good health and was seen resting, stretching, scooching, and sunning. The lanugo coat is shed within a few weeks of birth. Seals in captivity never have to hunt for food so they don’t suffer from a lack of it like many in the wild do. These seals are killed primarily for food. In the past when I have been at this festival, we have seen a harbor seal swimming in the Connecticut river--one year it was very close and had a fish that a bald eagle kept trying to swoop down and steal from it. Harbor seals are the third most common patient at The Marine Mammal Center. A beautiful young Harp Seal spent the better part of the day hauled out between the bank of the Good Harbor Beach creek and the dunes. Some pups are born with a light colored, lanugo coat (fetal fur that most mammals shed before birth). Harp seals spend relatively little time on land and prefer to swim in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Harbor seal pups can swim at birth. Particulars including smog, smoke, and more can affect their breathing. Seals are pinnipeds. From mid-February through the end of June, the Center's rescue and rehabilitation work focuses on orphaned harbor seal and elephant seal pups. Harp seals are the victims of the largest slaughter of marine mammals in the world: the Canadian seal hunt. Instead, they have internal ears so all you are able to see is a small hole or bump about an inch behind their eye. Learn about the cruel, ecologically irresponsible, and totally unnecessary seal hunt on Harpseals.org. Like harbor and gray seals, increased sightings of harp seals were reported in 2001 along the eastern seaboard of the United States, including a large number in need of rescue. But seals' furry, generally stubby front feet — thinly webbed flippers, actually, with a claw on each small toe — seem petite in comparison to the mostly skin-covered, elongated fore … The harp seal … They usually have a streamlined barrel shape and four flippers at the end of each limb. Smaller numbers of harp seals, bearded seals, hooded seals and harbor seals are killed. The Inuit have a long-standing tradition of killing seals. Harbor seals have small front flippers only about the size of a human hand. There are over 30 species of seals; however, only two types of species inhabit British waters – the harbour seal and the grey seal.While it’s possible for you to see other species such as ringed, harp and hooded species around the coasts, these vagrants seals are just visiting. Most are ringed seals. Seals are very often negatively impacted by the pollution that humans release into the water and into the air. Ainsley Smith from… Traditionally, they target adult seals, because there is much more flesh on adult seals than on seal pups just weeks or a few months old. [citation needed] In comparison to many pinniped species, and in contrast to otariid pinnipeds, harbor seals are generally regarded to be more vocally reticent. Beach walkers and dog walkers were respectful and kept a safe distance. Harbor seals' color varies but they often have a … Harbor seals are sometimes reluctant to haul out in the presence of humans, so shoreline development and access must be carefully studied in known locations of seal haul out. Harp seal, (Pagophilus, or Phoca, groenlandica), medium-sized, grayish earless seal possessing a black harp-shaped or saddle-shaped marking on its back. The harbor seal’s diet … Spotting seals in the UK is not an unusual occurrence because they have a large population in the country. Facts about seals. The harbor (or harbour) seal (Phoca vitulina), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere.The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared seals, and true seals), they are found in coastal waters of the northern Atlantic, Pacific Oceans, Baltic and North Seas. Harp seals are found on or near ice floes from the Kara Sea of Russia west to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada.