Harbor Seals Lacs des Loups Marine Subspecies

Where Does This Seal Live?The Harbor seal lives in Quebec. Specifically speaking it

lives 160 km east of Hudson Bay on the Ungava peninsula of northern Quebec.

These seals have been reported to have been seen in surrounding lakes and rivers. Four individual seals that were survey in 1995 stayed in the remote area of Lower Seals Lake. They were surveyed during the fall period.

What are Their Basic Needs?These Seals live in Fresh water year round and survive by

eating mostly fish. When they run out of air, they come above the surface to give off carbon dioxide and take in oxygen before going back under the water level.

If seals are not in the water they usually will lay in a “ditch” in the snow and ice. For water they just go to the edge or in the liquid before they drink.

Is There a Relationship with an Other Organism That The Harbor Seal Has?Yes the harbor seal has a relationship with another

organism. It has a relationship with a polar bear, their relationship is called predation.

The polar bear gets the positive out of the relationship because they eat the seal(+), while the harbor seal gets the negative side because they get eaten(-).

What are Humans Doing to Harm the Harbor Seal?During the 1900’s, seal pups that were four weeks and

under, used to be hunted for their beautiful fur for the Fur Trade. Salmon fishers also hunted seals because they saw them as competitors for fish.

Marine equipment has taken a toll on the harbor seal because seals get caught in nylon nets, plastic packaging materials which can cause severe injury or even death. Pups also can swallow small pieces of plastic that ingest and can cause starvation or obstruction in the stomach.

Immune dysfunction is usually caused from industrial run-off which eventually turned into high levels of toxic chemicals, polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane(DDTs), apparently found in harbor seals.

What Could Humans Have Done, are Doing, or can do?In 1972 a law was made that you could no

longer hunt certain marine mammals, including the harbor seal, legally. The U.S. Marine Mammals Protection Act made this law.

One other thing humans have done and are going to continue doing is they have rescued, rehabilitated and released seals at SeaWorld San Diego.

What Does This Seal Look Like? Fur Colours: Light gray and silver with dark spots are the main colourations, even though some are black or

dark grey to a brown colour with whitish grey rings. Rings and spots are usually found on the dorsal, or commonly known as the back. Red or rust coloured seals are mostly found in San Francisco Bay, caused by iron oxide deposits on their fur.

 Sizes Male harbor seals can reach the length of 1.4 to 2.0 m(4.6-6.6ft.) and can weigh up to 70 to 170 kg about 154- 375 pounds.   Females can reach up to about 1.2- 1.7 m approximately 3.9-5.6 ft long. They can weigh up to 50 to 150 kg. If you wanted to know pounds it would be about 110-331 pounds.

A harbor seal's limbs are modified into short, webbed flippers with five digits of about equal length.   Short and webbed the harbor seals fore flippers have five digit length. The fore flippers have noticeable claws

that are blunt and reach the length of about 2.5 to 5 cm. Possible uses of these claws include scratching, grooming and defense. The Harbor seals fore flippers are less resistant as the hind flippers.

    Hind flippers are shorter and thinner. When they spread their hind flippers out they look like a fan. Like the

fore flippers, the hind flippers have small hairs that cover them and claws.   The hind flippers act as a rudder when swimming and the hind flippers also act as the propeller because they move them side- to- side.

Harbor seals have a head that is quite rounded and have a fairly blunt snout. When this seal dives, their ear openings close because the harbor seal has no external ear flap. Teeth wise… they can have up to 34- 36 teeth. The back teeth are more blunt for crushing shells and crustaceans while the front teeth are sharp and pointed for tearing and ripping.

 On thick pads on the upper and lower lip whiskers can be found. Whiskers grow throughout their life.    If you look between a harbor seals hind flippers you will probably find a short little stub, that would be their

tail.    Short and thick, the harbor seal has hair that covers their body. As the age of the seal grows older, the density

of the hair increases. To help the water keep out of their fur they have glands in their skin the secrete oil.    The harbor seals hair provides NO insulation, its all fat. When the harbor seal molts (they lose their hair year

after breeding) they usually decrease their food intake.