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harp seal

 
Dictionary: harp seal
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n.
An earless seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) of the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans whose pups are hunted for their fine white fur.

[From the shape of the markings on its shoulders and sides.]


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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: harp seal
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Migratory earless seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus, sometimes Phoca groenlandica) of the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans. The adult male is light grayish or yellowish, with brown or black on the head and a similarly coloured U-shaped marking on the back and sides. The female is less clearly marked. Adults are about 6 ft (1.8 m) long and typically weigh between 265 and 300 lbs (120 and 135 kg). Harp seals feed on fish and crustaceans and spend much of the year at sea. They breed near Newfoundland, Can., and in the Greenland and White seas. Until two weeks old, the pups bear a fluffy white coat highly valued by the fur trade; public indignation over hunting methods (including clubbing) has led to increased regulation and supervision of sealing activities in the Newfoundland area.

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Animal Encyclopedia: Harp seal
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Pagophilus groenlandicus

SUBFAMILY

Phocinae

TAXONOMY

Pagophilus groenlandicus (Erxleben, 1777), "in Groenlandiaet Newfoundland."

OTHER COMMON NAMES

English: Fjord seal, jar seal; Eskimo: Natchik.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Males: 5.6 ft (1.7 m); 297 lb (135 kg); Females: 5.6 ft (1.7 m); 240 lb (109 kg). Young adults of both sexes have a silvery gray coat with dark spots. Older adult males have basic pelage that is cream color over which is a black face to the top of the head and a matching harp or saddle pattern of black running along each side. Older females have a similar pattern but the harp pattern and face may not be as dark and sometimes it is broken into smaller patterns. Pups are born with a white natal coat.

DISTRIBUTION

There are three major breeding areas, one off the coast of northeastern Canada, another off the east coast of Greenland, and the third in the White Sea off the northwest coast of Russia. Outside of the breeding season seals may be found mainly in subarctic areas of the North Atlantic Ocean.

HABITAT

Breed on ice floes and remain in association with pack ice for resting and molting. They forage in open water or under the ice. Their ice-breeding habit makes this species particularly prone to polar bear predation during breeding.

BEHAVIOR

Females form large aggregations on floating ice during the breeding season but are not densely clumped like in some species. Males spend little time on the ice during this time. After the breeding period, both sexes haul out in groups on the ice to molt. After molting, seals migrate northward with the recession of the ice to areas where they forage intensively, having foraged little during breeding and molting. In-air vocalizations are relatively uncommon although females will give shrill calls when another animal approaches their pup too closely. Underwater around the breeding grounds there is a cacophony of sounds, most likely emanating from males although it is difficult to identify who is doing the vocalizing. Weaned pups remain on the ice and fast for several weeks before they depart to begin foraging.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Diets of this species have been extensively studied from stomach samples of shot seals, but only recently have dive recorders been used to determine at what depth seals feed. Moreover these data are only available during the breeding season, which may be expected to be different than at other times. During this period, seals are moderate divers potentially foraging at depths averaging 100 ft (30 m) and reaching a maximum of 300 ft (90 m). These dives typically last about four minutes, but may last as long as 13 minutes. The diet is broad and known to vary seasonally. Nearly 70 species of fish and 70 species of invertebrates have been found in the stomachs of these seals. The most predominant species are capelin (Mallosus villosus), and Arctic (Boreogadus saida), and polar cod (Arctogadus glacialis).

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

The mating system is poorly studied in this species. Males are believed to be polygynous, but whether they defend positions, territories, or females directly, or display to attract females is unclear. Mating occurs in the water. Males produce sperm about four to five years of age, although may not become successful breeders until older. Females give birth for the first time from four to seven years of age, and give birth to a single young annually. Lactation is about 12 days during which females produce a milk averaging 48% fat.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not threatened.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

These seals are hunted for meat, fur, and oil on a small scale. Also a small eco-tourism industry has evolved out of the efforts to replace the lost economy from boycotts of seal products resulting from hunting.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: harp seal
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harp seal, crested earless, or true, seal, Phoca groenlandica, found in the N Atlantic around Greenland and the White Sea. In the spring, harp seals migrate southward to assemble in large groups to breed near the Newfoundland and Norwegian coasts. The young, born on ice floes, are covered with a fluffy white coat from birth to weaning (about 12 to 18 days) and are hunted for their fur, meat, and skin. The clubbing to death of baby seals aroused much protest in the 1970s, and trade in their white furs has declined after Europe banned imports in the mid-1980s. A decade later, however, concerns over the seals' affect on the cod fisheries led to increased quotas and the return of large commercial operations to the annual hunt, but killing of white-coated baby seals is banned. The fur gradually darkens to gray as the young seals mature. The old males are marked with a brown crest on each side, suggesting the outline of a harp. Harp seals, sometimes seen as far S as Maine, are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Carnivora.

Bibliography

See F. Bruemmer, The Life of the Harp Seal (1977).

Wikipedia: Harp Seal
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Harp Seal
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Phocidae
Genus: Pagophilus
Species: P. groenlandica
Binomial name
Pagophilus groenlandica
Erxleben, 1777
Synonyms
Phoca groenlandica

The Harp Seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus; syn. Phoca groenlandica) is a species of earless seal native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and adjacent parts of the Arctic Ocean.

Contents

Population

Harp Seals separate into three populations according to their breeding locations; the White Sea, the West Ice between Jan Mayen and Greenland, and the Northwest Atlantic near Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Seals breeding in the Northwest Atlantic represent the largest population and are genetically different from seals breeding in the two other areas, which have not been proven genetically different from each other. They are however visually indistinguishable, and a degree of mixing between the populations occurs.[2][3]

The Northwest population

There are no reliable estimates of the size of Northwest Atlantic population when commercial hunting began in the early 1800s. Several simulation models estimated virginal populations to be in the 3 to 4 million range.[citation needed] It is considered that the population recovered to about 3 million at the end of World War II, but subsequently declined by 50–66% between 1950 and 1970 due to commercial hunting in Canada. Quotas and other conservation measures since then have enabled the population to nearly triple in size to an unhealthily large 5.4 million according to a peer-reviewed survey in 1999.(citation to journal needed)

White Sea and West Ice populations

Mature females usually give birth to one pup in March/April each year. The pups are born within well defined areas in the drift ice in the White Sea or in the area between Jan Mayen and East Greenland (the West Ice population). Harp Seals migrate in search for food over large areas in the Barents Sea, the Norwegian Sea, the Greenland Sea and the Denmark Strait.

The population size in 2000 was estimated to be more than 300,000 in the White Sea and 361,000 in the West Ice.

The annual prey consumption was in 2000 estimated to about 3.5 million tonnes in the White Sea area (Nilssen et al. 2000).

Breeding

Each year, mature females (5–6 years old) give birth to a single pup, typically in late February. Pups weigh approximately 10 kg and are 80–85 cm long. Immediately after giving birth, the mother smells her offspring, and from that point on will only ever feed her own pup, whose scent she remembers. Harp Seal milk contains up to 48% fat, so pups gain over 2 kg per day when nursing, which lasts roughly 12 days. During this time the mother does not eat, and will lose up to 3 kg per day of body weight. Weaning is abrupt; the mother simply leaves and never comes back. The stranded pup will cry at first, and then become very sedentary to conserve body fat.

Pups are unable to swim or find food until they are about 25 days old, leaving them very vulnerable to polar bears and seal hunters. Due in part to the period of helplessness as infants, and to the long time it takes them to become proficient swimmers, as many as 30% of pups fail to survive their first year. Also, although it is not legal to catch seals using nets, thousands of seals are inadvertently killed in commercial fishing nets every year.

When the mother weans its pup, mature males (6–7 years old) roam around breeding with the females promiscuously. While courtship begins on the ice, the actual mating takes place in the water. Harp Seals have delayed implantation, meaning the fertilized egg becomes an embryo, but does not implant in the uterus right away. The embryo will float around for about three and a half months before implanting and beginning to grow. This allows all the females to give birth within a very small time window each year, when the ice pack is available for giving birth and raising their young.

Migration and vagrancy

Harp Seals are strongly migratory. The northwest population regularly moves up to 4,000 km northeast outside of the breeding season;[3] one tagged individual of this population was recovered at sea off the north Norwegian coast, 4,640 km east-north-east of its tagging location.[4] Their navigational accuracy is very high, with good eyesight being an important factor.[2][3] They are occasionally found as a vagrant south of its normal range. In Great Britain, a total of 31 were recorded between 1800 and 1988,[5] with one subsequently, on Lindisfarne in Northumberland in September 1995.[6]

One recorded in the Shetland Islands in 1987 was linked to a mass movement of Harp Seals into Norwegian waters; by mid-February 1987, 24,000 were reported drowned in fishermen's nets and perhaps 300,000 (about 10% of the world population) had invaded fjords as far south as Oslo. The animals were in an emaciated condition and this was believed to be the result of food shortages, likely due to over-fishing by humans.[7]

Diet

Harp Seals are opportunistic feeders, and will eat almost anything that is in great abundance. They have eaten massive amounts of Cod fish helping to decrease their number as well. It is estimated that each adult harp seal consumes 1.0-1.4 tonnes of fish annually, which translates to a consumption of 6 million metric tonnes each year by the North Atlantic population. This usually includes a wide variety of fish, still including Cod, and invertebrates, and their diet seems to vary during different stages of life. Since reporting of the stomach contents of killed seals began in 1941, at least 67 species of fish and 70 species of invertebrates have been found to be part of the Harp Seal's diet.

Natural predators

Predators include Polar Bears, Orcas, sharks, in some areas Walruses, while Humans are their primary predator. They have been hunted by humans for various products including fur, oil and meat for over 4,000 years, and more recently to mitigate their negative impact on local commercial fisheries.

Seal hunting

Main article: Seal hunting

All three populations are hunted commercially, mainly by Canada, Norway, Russia and Greenland. In hunting terminology, Harp Seals are often given different names according to their age:

  • Whitecoats: Birth to 2 weeks
  • Ragged jackets: 2 to 4 weeks
  • Beaters: 4 weeks to 1 year
  • Bedlamers: 1 to 4 years
  • Spotted harp: 4 to 7 years
  • Dark harp: mature/adult

In Canada, the season for the commercial hunt is from November 15 to May 15. The majority of sealing, however, occurs in late March in The Gulf of St. Lawrence, and during the first or second week of April off Newfoundland, in an area known as "The Front". This peak spring period is generally what is referred to as the "Canadian Seal Hunt". The hunting of whitecoats in Canada has been banned since 1987. In 2006, the St. Lawrence seal hunt officially started on March 25. This date was initially uncertain, due to thin ice conditions caused by the year's milder temperatures. Inuit people living in the region hunt them mainly for food and to a lesser extent, commercial reasons.

In 2003, the three-year quota granted by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans was increased to a maximum of 975,000 animals, with a maximum of 350,000 animals in any two consecutive years. In 2006, 325,000 Harp Seals, as well as 10,000 Hooded Seals and 10,400 Grey Seals were killed. An additional 10,000 animals are allocated for hunting by natives.

The Canadian seal hunt is monitored by the Canadian Government. However, although approximately 70% of Canadian seals killed are killed on "The Front", the vast majority of private monitors focus on the St. Lawrence hunt, due to its more convenient location.

Notes and references

  1. ^ Kovacs, K. (2008). Pagophilus groenlandicus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 29 January 2009.
  2. ^ a b King, J. E. (1993). Seals of the World, 2nd. ed. British Museum, London.
  3. ^ a b c Ronald, K., & Healey, P. J. (1981). Harp Seal. Chapter 3 in Ridgeway, S. H., & Harrison, R. J., eds. Handbook of Marine Mammals, vol. 2 Seals. Academic Press, London.
  4. ^ Sergeant, D. E. (1973). Transatlantic migration of a Harp Seal, Pagophilus groenlandicus. J. Fish. Res. Board Canada 30: 124-125.
  5. ^ Corbet, G. B., & Harris, S., eds. (1991). The Handbook of British Mammals, 3rd. ed. Blackwell, Oxford.
  6. ^ Frankis, M. P., Davey, P. R., & Anderson, G. Q. A. (1997). Harp Seal: a new mammal for the Northumberland fauna. Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Northumbria 57 (4) 239-241.
  7. ^ Anon (1987). Harp Seals, Brunnich's Guillemots and White-billed Divers Twitching 1 (3): 58.

The Northwest population:

The White Sea and West Ice populations:

  • Hamre, J.(1994). Biodiversity and exploitation of the main fish stocks in the Norwegian- Barents Sea ecosystem. Biodiversity and Conservation 3:473-492
  • Haug, T., Kroeyer, A.B., Nilssen, K.T., Ugland, K.I. and Aspholm, P.E., (1991). Harp seal (Phoca groenlandica ) invasions in Norwegian coastal waters: Age composition and feeding habits. ICES journal of marine science. Vol. 48, no. 3:363-371
  • ICES 2001. Report of the Joint ICES/NAFO Working Group on Harp and Hooded Seals, ICES Headquarters, 2-6 October 2000. ICES CM, 2001, ACFM:8, 40 pp.
  • Nilssen, K.T., Pedersen, O.-P., Folkow, L.P., & Haug. T. 2000. Food consumption estimates of Barents Sea harp seals. NAMMCO Sci. Publ. 2:9-28.

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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