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A harbor seal's core temperature is about 37.8°C (100°F). There is a heat gradient throughout the blubber from the body core to the skin. The skin remains about one degree Celsius warmer than surrounding water. Harbor seals have a metabolic rate somewhat higher than land mammals of the same size. This helps them generate body heat for warmth.
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 do not drink water; they metabolize water from their food. Seals can rest underwater. Their lungs collapse when they dive, their heart rate slows dramatically, and blood flow to some organs is restricted. In this way their bodies conserve oxygen and prevent the “bends.”.
- They have been around for a long time. Fossil records indicate that the ancestors of modern seals first entered the ocean on the west coast, about 28–30 million years ago.
- There are three different major types of pinnipeds. “Phocid seals” are also called “true seals” and include several species such as harbor seals and gray seals.
- They have whiskers they use like cats do. Seals and sea lions have many well-developed whiskers, much like cats. Like cats, they have a very acute sense of touch.
- They can go for long periods of time without eating. A seal’s body stores enough fat in the blubber layer to allow the animal to go for extended periods of time without eating.
Harbor seals can detect prey by using nerves in their whiskers or vibrissae that sense a change in pressure or vibrations in the water. Harbor seals use their acute sense of smell to find a lost pup. Unlike sea lions, harbor seals rarely vocalize on land except during pupping season or when threatened. They often communicate by slapping the ...
May 7, 2021 · Despite living in the same environment and doing largely the same things, seals have evolved two distinct ways to swim. One group of seals chiefly use their feet to propel them through the water, while the other uses their flippers to swim. This is curious, as both groups evolved from the same land-dwelling ancestor that slipped into the sea ...
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All pinnipeds have four flippers, a layer of blubber, and sensitive whiskers on their snouts. The Harbor seal has all of these and a lot more. Like many marine animals, Harbor seals have streamlined fusiform bodies, tapered at both ends. Harbor seals have spotty coats. The dorsal side has more spots then the ventral side.
