Harbour Seal

Phoca vitulina · Mammal

The harbour seal keeps to shallow coasts, bays, rocky islets and estuaries of the northern Atlantic and Pacific, and some even live in freshwater lakes. It is mostly alone and active by day, gathering in loose groups only to pup and to moult. People hunted it for blubber, meat, fur and skin, and fishermen resent it for emptying and tangling their nets.

Danger

Dangerous if cornered

How it is met

Alone, by day

Size

Medium

In winter

Active in winter

Where it lives

Lake, Rocky Shore, Sandy Shore, Estuary

Gives

Harbour Seal Pelt, Harbour Seal Blubber

Sources

• Kristan Cale, Phoca vitulina (harbor seal). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, 2012.

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