Harbour Seal Profile
Seals look a lot like the puppies of the ocean. They’re cute and sleek, with big eyes and an intelligent, playful demeanour.
Unless you’re a fish, of course in which case they are terrifying predators with powerful jaws and enormous canines.
In the Northern Hemisphere there are at least ten species of true seal, but none as widespread and as accomplished as the Harbour seal, whose cuteness is balanced with a tenacity and hunting prowess that has made them exceptional among their kind.
Harbour Seal Facts Overview
| Habitat: | Marine; rocky coasts, sandy beaches, harbors, bays, some lakes. |
| Location: | Temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere |
| Lifespan: | Up to 35 years |
| Size: | Up to 1.8 metres (6 ft) |
| Weight: | Up to 168kg (370 lb) |
| Colour: | Brown, silvery white, tan, or grey, with dark spots. |
| Diet: | Fish, shrimp, crabs, mollusks, and squid, sometimes ducks |
| Predators: | Orcas and sharks |
| Top Speed: | Not listed |
| No. of Species: | 1 |
| Conservation Status: | Least Concern (IUCN) |
Harbour seals are true seals, native to a wide range of coastal habitats in the Northern Hemisphere.
Not satisfied merely marine environments, they’ve expanded their range on the hunt for freshwater fish species, which they follow more than a hundred miles up rivers and even set up permanent residences in certain lakes.
They’re hugely successful, despite being widely culled by greedy fishermen for decades.
And while there are hundreds of thousands of them, they’re still shy and secretive enough for us to know relatively little about their societies.
Interesting Harbour Seal Facts
1. They’re very widespread
Harbour seals are often known as common seals, and this is an apt descriptor. They’re found all over the Northern Hemisphere and are the most widespread seal species in this zone, found in the Atlantic, Pacific, Baltic and North Seas.
This makes them not only the most widely dispersed seal but also the widest-ranging pinniped, more so than walruses and sea lions, too.
There are five proposed subspecies, with the Eastern and Western Atlantic populations making up two of them, respectively. Western North America is home to a third, and East Asia may or may not have a subspecies of harbour seal; the taxonomy on this one is debatable.
But the fifth subspecies is unique among the species, and one of only three seal groups that inhabit lakes.
2. Even in freshwater
The Ungava seal is a subspecies of harbour seal endemic to the freshwater lakes of Quebec, Canada. While the species as a whole is doing very well, this small population isn’t quite as healthy and it’s thought that there are no more than 100 of them left.
As such, this subspecies is considered endangered, not because there’s currently a lot of ongoing reduction in the population, but because many of the common threats to species like this are looming and the population is so small it’s inherently vulnerable.
The development of hydroelectric dams, drownings in fishing nets and the catastrophe of climate change are all dangers expected to increase the risk to these seals.
Unfortunately, it appears as though this population is isolated from its conspecifics in the Western Atlantic, meaning their reproductive prospects are also limited. 1
3. They’re adventurous
The fact that these seals make up one of only three seal populations found in freshwater environments is a testament to how adaptable and tenacious they are.
While they prefer to go back to their familiar nesting sites, they’re not shy to explore when it comes to feeding and will spend many days at sea on hunting expeditions.
During this time they might move 50km per day and happily move up estuaries into riverine systems looking for salmon. They can be found more than a hundred miles upstream on occasion.
As for resting and breeding sites, these are varied too and can be either remote rocky coastlines or sprawling sandy beaches – both equally comfortable for resting seals.
4. But shy and solitary
But while they are often found in huge numbers in these sites, harbour seals are surprisingly solitary. They hunt alone and will designate and defend their territories by roaring to let others know they’re occupied.
Being fish hunters, these territories exist underwater, and so these seals have a special kind of sub-aquatic vocalisations that work like a foghorn underwater and warn others to stay away.
Mating also happens beneath the surface, and as such, despite being so common, not much is known about their mating systems.
They’re not just elusive, but also shy animals, and will disappear from the shore when approached by people. And they have good reason to. 2
5. They’ve been persecuted
It did not go unnoticed by the fishing industries of the 19th and 20th centuries, that these active and accomplished predators were catching a lot of fish.
Since the fishermen also wanted to fish, harbour seals became villainised to the point where entire population programs were devised and executed to remove the competition.
As recently as the ‘90s, and even to some degree still, this species was the victim of dramatic culling across various points in their range.
Viruses compounded this destruction, as did the feral pets brought by the humans, who contributed to infant mortality while on land.
All of these factors contributed to a dramatic reduction in harbour seal numbers, but these hardy animals are still going strong.
It’s thought there are somewhere between 350,000 and 500,000 mature individuals left, and the species as a whole is considered of Least Concern by the IUCN, though there is no information on whether this is a stable or declining population.
6. They can talk?
One of the most famous examples of a harbour seal showed up in the ‘70s in the form of a captive animal who was said to be able to mimic human speech.
An orphaned baby seal was rescued by a well-wisher in 1971 and named Hoover. He was originally kept in their bath but then moved to a pond where he became friends with their dog and would enjoy car rides into town.
Hoover bonded strongly with the family and eventually became known for imitating the voice of his owner. Unfortunately, he became too much to look after and was put into the New England aquarium, where he sired several pups before his death in 1986. 3
Harbour Seal Fact-File Summary
Scientific Classification
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Phocidae |
| Genus: | Phoca |
| Species: | vitulina |
Fact Sources & References
- “Ungava Seal”, IUCN Red List.
- Leanna P. Matthews (2017), “Source levels and call parameters of harbor seal breeding vocalizations near a terrestrial haulout site in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve”, The Journal of Acoustical Society of America.
- helgenorthsouthtv (2016), “Hoover, the talking Seal July 4+7 1984”, Youtube.