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Facts
The harp seal (Phoca groenlandica) is a marine mammal belonging to the Suborder Pinnipedia (fin-footed animals) and the Family Phocidae (true seals lacking external ears). The fossil remains of harp seals indicate they existed during the middle Miocene age, approximately 20 million years ago. They apparently originated in the northern hemisphere and are derived from a stock of land-based flesh-eating mammals. The Norwegian name for the harp seal, Selhund, which means Sea Dog, and the French name, loup-marin, or sea wolf, aptly reflect the evolutionary origin of the harp seal. Other common names for this species are the Greenland seal, the saddle seal and the saddleback seal.
Harp seals owe their name to the irregular horseshoe-shaped band of black straddling the back in the adult male. This band, or "harp", unites across the shoulders, curves down toward the abdominal region and the back up toward the posterior flippers where it abruptly disappears. The background colour of the pelt is steel blue when wet and pale grey when dry. The head and tail are black, while the anterior flippers and belly are whitish. Adult females are similarly patterned, except that the "harp", the head, and the tail are usually somewhat lighter in colour. Some adult females have irregular dark grey spots on the back with no clearly defined "harp". Occasionally very dark "smutty" seals are observed; these are generally males and are thought to be melanistic (darkly pigmented) colour forms.
Males are only slightly larger than females; the average length (from the nose to the tip of the tail) of adult males is 169 cm, and of adult females 162 cm. Weight ranges from 85 to 180 kg depending on time of year. Harp seals may live 35 years or more.
Colour - light grey with large harp-shaped ring on the back; ring on the back is dark brown to black (less distinct in female, with back mostly black); faces are black (but not heads); immature animals spotted (less so than Harbour Seals); pups white
Length -1.5 to 2 metres
Shape- thin and noticeable neck compared to other seals
Behaviour- often seen well offshore swimming in large herds (10-75 animals); swimming may include porpoising and leaping (when they are easily confused with dolphins)
Distribution and Habitat
Harp seals inhabit the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans from northern Russia, to Newfoundland and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada. They are separated into three populations based on where they breed; the White Sea, the `West Ice' and the Northwest Atlantic `Gulf' and `Front' (see map). Harp seals are closely associated with pack ice, undergoing spring migrations of up to 2,500 km on their way to summer feeding grounds, returning south ahead of the new ice in the fall. All three populations exhibit similar patterns of annual migration, although the timing of specific events such as pupping, varies slightly from place to place.
 Life Cycle
Harp seals of the Canadian Arctic gather in large herds to bear their young, feed and mate off the shores of Newfoundland. Although this happens in spring, their journey to these shores begins months earlier and much further away.
In late September, new ice forms over the Arctic Ocean along the east and west coasts of Baffin Island. It gradually spreads southward as winter sets in. Harp seals start their journey southward on the leading edge or "front" of this Arctic ice. By mid-to-late October they reach northern Labrador and by mid-December the Strait of Belle Isle. The herd then splits into two large ones. One heads for the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The other to the east coast of Newfoundland covering the ocean waters from the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula to the Avalon Peninsula.
In January and February the seals spend much of them time feeding. For the females, it is necessary to increase their store of energy in the form of fat called blubber. Each female will give birth to one hungry pup.
In late February or early March, female seals haul themselves upon the Arctic ice and give birth to one baby seal called a pup. Twin births in harp seals are rare. The newborns are about 85 cm long, weigh about 11 kg and are yellowish in colour. Within 3 to 4 days, this fur turns a fluffy white. The pups are now called "whitecoats".
Harp seal pups grow very fast. After being nursed with milk 10 times richer than cow's milk for about 12 days, the pups will have tripled their weight. By the time they are weaned and abandoned by their mothers, the pups will weigh an average 35 kilograms. More than half of this weight is fat in the form of blubber. It will protect them from the cold North Atlantic water and provide nourishment when they moult into their adult colours.
Shortly after being abandoned, the pups begin to lose weight and to shed their white coats. During this time, they will not eat for four to five weeks. During that time they will lose about 10 kg of body weight. They are now called "ragged jackets" because of the ragged appearance of their moulting pelts. After 18 days the white coat is completely shed and is replaced with a short silvery one. It is flecked with small dark spots along each side and sparsely flecked spots on the back. The pups, now on their own, are called "beaters".
Have you ever wondered how to tell the difference between a sea lion and a seal? Both marine mammals belong to the order Pinnipedia, which means "fin-footed" and both are very agile in the water and adept at diving. While the sleek sea lion uses its front flippers to push itself through the water, steering with the rear flippers, the chubbier seal propels itself with its rear flippers and steers with the front ones. The sea lion's flippers are also more flexible than the seal's. On land, the sea lion walks using its flippers like feet. It lifts itself up on the front flippers and rotates its hind flippers forward and under its body. A seal, on the other hand, must crawl along the ground with its front flippers while it drags its hind flippers behind. Another distinguishing feature of the sea lion is its ear flap. A seal has a small opening on each side of its head that serves as an ear, but no visible external flap covering it.
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