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Harp seals spend relatively little time on land compared with time at sea. They are social animals and can be quite vocal in groups. Within their large colonies, smaller groups with their own hierarchies form. [2] Groups of several thousand form during pupping and mating season. [17] Harp seals can live over 30 years in the wild. [2]
Harbour seals are the most abundant pinniped in the eastern North Pacific Ocean. [2] Much like other pinnipeds, harbour seals haul-out for reasons such as thermoregulation, breeding, mating, moulting, resting, and foraging. [16] [2] They commonly haul-out onto intertidal ledges, mudflats, beaches, and ice floes year round. [16]
In the 1980s–1990s, takings of harp seals totaled 8,000–10,000, and annual catches of hooded seals totaled a few thousand between 1997 and 2001. [1] Norway accounts for all recent seal hunting in the West Ice, as Russia has not hunted hooded seals since 1995, and catches harp seals at the East Ice in the White Sea – Barents Sea .
Harp seals are named for the harp-like pattern on the backs of adults. While juvenile harp seals are common along New Jersey's coast, adults are more rare, according to the stranding center.
Shortly after weaning mating will occur. Both harbour and spotted seals are aquatically mating pinnipeds. [3] Mating occurs in the water around the time when pups are weaned. [4] Females in estrus are typically more dispersed than land-breeding pinnipeds and the distinction between foraging and reproductive behavior is less apparent. [5]
Exploited species included harp seals, hooded seals, Caspian seals, elephant seals, walruses and all species of fur seal. [100] The scale of seal harvesting decreased substantially after the 1960s, [ 101 ] after the Canadian government reduced the length of the hunting season and implemented measures to protect adult females. [ 102 ]
A nearly 151-pound adult harp seal was rescued from a beach in Lavallette in February, according to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center. It was released in early April and had gained 70 pounds.
Photo Of Seal Pup Kissing Mom Goes Viral Weddell seals from Erebus Bay in Antarctica have been studied for decades -- and now, two of the creatures are having 15 minutes of Internet fame.