Description: The common seal (Phoca vitulina), also known as the harbor seal, is an agile carnivore with a streamlined body and flipper-like limbs that enable them to swim with great skill. Common seals grow to lengths of up 6.5 feet and weights of 120 to 370 pounds. Males are generally larger than females.
Common seals have a thick coat of short hair. Their coloration varies, with spots ranging from off-white to black or brown. Common seals are among the world's most wide-ranging seals. Common seals inhabit the coastal areas of the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans and is found in arctic, subarctic, and temperate regions.
Classification:
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum Chordata
- Class Mammalia
- Order Carnivora
- Family Phocidae
- Genus Phoca
- Species Phoca vitulina
- Eastern Atlantic harbor seal (Phoca vitulina vitulina)
- Western Atlantic harbor seal (Phoca vitulina concolor)
- Pacific harbor seal (Phoca vitulina richarii)
- Ungava seal (Phoca vitulina mellonae)
- Insular seal (Phoca vitulina stejnegeri)
Habitat: Coastal regions of the North Atlantic and North Pacific. Habitats include coastal islands, beaches, and sand bars.
Diet: Fish, squid, crustaceans, mollusks, squid.
Status: Common. Protected under the US Marine Mammal Act of 1972.
References:
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
- Burnie, D. and D.E. Wilson. Animal. Dorling Kindersley. London. 2001.
- Phoca vitulina. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology's Animal Diversity Web.
Photo credit: A special thank you to Jan Tarrant for the photograph of the common seal (photo taken at Corbyn Head, Torquay).
