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Harbor seals are very graceful swimmers, but because their hind flippers don’t rotate, they’re very clumsy on land. Tucked in between the hind flippers is a short tail. Harbor seals are covered in short, thick hair.
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Harbor seals are brown, silvery white, tan, or gray, with distinctive V-shaped nostrils. An adult can attain a length of 1.85 m (6.1 ft) and a mass of up to 168 kg (370 lb). Blubber under the seal's skin helps to maintain body temperature. Females outlive males (30–35 years versus 20–25 years).
11,917 Free images of Harbor Seal. Find your perfect harbor seal image. Free pictures to download and use in your next project.
May 7, 2021 · 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.
- Entanglement
- Illegal Feeding and Harassment
- Habitat Degradation
- Chemical Contaminants
- Vessel Collisions
Harbor seals can become entangled in fishing gear and other types of marine debris, either swimming off with the gear attached or becoming anchored. They can become entangled in many different fishing gear types, including gillnets, trawls, purse seines, or weirs. Once entangled, seals may drown if they cannot reach the surface to breathe, or they ...
Illegal feeding of harbor seals can lead to many problems including habituation, aggression, negative impacts to fisheries, entanglement, injury, and death. Harassment, including repeated exposure to vessel traffic and other disturbance, can degrade important nursery, molting, and haul out areas for harbor seals. Increased vessel traffic can also c...
Harbor seals are susceptible to habitat loss and degradation. Physical barriers, which may include shoreline and offshore structures for development (e.g., for oil and gas, dredging, pile driving), can limit access to important migration, breeding, feeding, molting, or pupping areas. Oil and gas development, commercial and recreational development ...
Contaminants enter ocean waters from many sources, including oil and gas development, wastewater discharges, agricultural and urban runoff, and other industrial processes. Once in the environment, these substances move up the food chain and accumulate in top predators such as harbor seals. These chemicals do not degrade. Harbor seals accumulate con...
Inadvertent vessel collisions can injure or kill harbor seals. Harbor seals are vulnerable to vessel collisions throughout their range, but the risk is much higher in some coastal areas with heavy vessel traffic.
- Mammalia
- Chordata
- Carnivora
Harbor seals may spend days at sea without hauling out. When sleeping in the water they float vertically with just their heads above the surface, a behavior called “bottling”. SPECIES IN DETAIL | Print full entry
People also ask
How do harbor seals swim?
Are harbor seals clumsy?
What does a harbor seal look like?
Can seals swim with their tails?
Can harbor seals get entangled in fishing gear?
How do harbor seals move?
Harbor seals swim with all four flippers: they move their hind flippers from side to side to propel themselves forward, and use their foreflippers to help them steer. Harbor seals can swim forward and upside-down.
