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Adult harbor seals can stay submerged for up to 30 minutes, but dives usually last only about three minutes. A two-day-old harbor seal pup can stay submerged for up to two minutes. All marine mammals have special physiological adaptations for diving. These adaptations enable a harbor seal to conserve oxygen while it is under water.
Harbor seals swim by moving their hindflippers in a side to side motion to propel their bodies. Their foreflippers act as a rudder. They can swim as fast as 12 miles per hour for short amounts of time but generally swim slower. Harbor seals can dive to depths of 1640 feet (500 meters) and stay submerged for 15 to 28 minutes.
A thick blubber helps harbor seals keep themselves insulated, thus decreasing heat loss. When on land, dilation of the blood vessels in the skin occurs to aid in the release of heat from the body. They sleep in the water using a posture known as ‘bottling,’ wherein their bodies are submerged in the water vertically, with just the heads above the surface to aid in breathing.
- Mammalia
- Chordata
- Carnivora
Harbor seals are most vulnerable when out of the water and will quickly return to the ocean if a threat is perceived. Harbor seals can be seen year round at Casa Beach and Seal Rock at the foot of Jenner St. and Coast Blvd. in La Jolla. You are most likely to see the greatest number of seals between April 24 and June 6.
Apr 19, 2022 · These chemicals do not degrade. Harbor seals accumulate contaminants, which threaten their immune and reproductive systems, in their blubber, blood, and organs (for example, liver or brain). These chemicals can be passed on to their pups during pregnancy and in milk. Vessel Collisions. Inadvertent vessel collisions can injure or kill harbor ...
- Mammalia
- Chordata
- Carnivora
Sep 26, 2023 · Their eyes are situated dorsal which gives them a wide field of vision, though ventrally this is limited. Thus harbor seals will often swim upside to do look below them while foraging (Hanke et al. 2009, Kilian et al., 2015) Whiskers (vibrissae): Adult harbor seals have around 42 whiskers or vibrissae (Scheffer and Slipp 1944). The whiskers are ...
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May 7, 2021 · There are two main groups when it comes to seals and how they swim. Seals that live predominantly in the northern hemisphere, such as grey and harbour seals, are from a group known as the true seals, or phocids. These have stubby, clawed paws which they can use to manipulate food and propel themselves through the water using their feet.
