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Tail. A harbor seal has a short, flattened tail - tucked between its hind flippers. Hair. Harbor seals have thick, short hair. The coat is made of coarse guard hairs and finer, but denser underhairs. Each guard hair has three to six underhair fibers attached to the root. The density of a harbor seal's hair increases with age.
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.
The Seal has short, thick fur, grows to be up to 6.5 feet (2 metres) long and can weigh up to 375 pounds (170 kilograms). The whiskers (called vibrissae) help the seals sense of touch. The nostrils are closed in the resting state. Blubber is a thick layer of vascular fat found under the skin of all cetaceans, pinnipeds and sirenians.
Harbor seals have coats that vary in color, from silver-gray to brown or black and are typically covered with many fine to medium spots. The mottled coats provide excellent camouflage on pebbled beaches. Like all true seals or commonseals, they have no external ear flaps and small flippers with a short tail.
In the Pacific Northwest, some orcas feed exclusively on fish while others predominantly eat seals and sea lions. In Antarctica, pods of killer whales will stalk seals resting on ice floes. Foxes, coyotes, and large birds like ravens will also prey upon young seals, and sea otters in the Pacific have been known to attack young harbor 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 and Pacific oceans, Baltic and North seas.
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Life cycle. Female harbour seals have a lifespan of 30 to 35 years, while males have a lifespan of 20 to 25 years. Both can reach a length of 1.85 metres as adults and weigh about 110 kg. Pups are born annually on shore. Pupping season varies by location, occurring in February in lower latitudes, and as late as July in the subarctic zone.
