Table of Contents
What are the body parts of a harp seal?
The harp seal can be identified as a member of the true earless seal family by the torpedo-shaped body and the presence of short front flippers, long hind flippers, large claws, short fur, and the lack of external ear flaps. They also have a long, tapered snout and a flat but wide head.
What is the white fur on seal pups called?
Newborn harp seals have soft, white fur and are called whitecoats. Young seals of any species are also referred to as pups.
How do harp seals protect themselves?
As a last resort when grabbed by a predator, seals will bite and thrash to defend themselves. In the case of male seals, such as elephant seals protecting a territory from competing males, the two will battle by biting and slamming their necks against each other.
What is a harp seals phylum?
Chordate
Harp seal/Phylum
Do seals lose their fur?
Older seals return annually to pack ice to molt. They lose their pelts and top layers of skin and grow a new fur coat every year. Baby seals are born on pack ice floating in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans.
What does a harp seal look like?
The Harp seal is a medium to large-sized mammal species. They have pure black eyes. Adult has silver-grey color fur covering their body. They have a black harp-shaped marking on their back. Males are larger than females. An adult length around 70 cm to 102 cm.
How do harp seals mate and reproduce?
A Harp Seal is able to reproduce when it is between 5 and 7 years of age. Males end up courting the females on the ice but then move into the water for the actual act of reproduction to take place. As a result there is much that researchers don’t know about this part of it.
What kind of hair do harbor seals have?
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.
Where do harp seals live in the world?
Distribution. You will find the Harp Seals along the coasts of the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. It due to the fact that they live in the coldest regions that they have plenty of thick fur as well as layers of blubber underneath it for insulation.