Harbor Seal Research Paper

Harbor seals are marine mammals that are found in the coastal waters of the Northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. They can also be found in the Baltic and North Seas. The harbor seals are usually either silver, grey, brown, or black and tend to have assorted spots of brown or black around their body, primarily below their chins and on their chests. These spots tend to be oval shaped and their orientation is speckled. Harbor seals are able to reach around 6 feet in length (Hopkins State Marine Reserve, n.d., para. 2). Their bodies consist of a blunt, round head, an elongated chest and abdomen, two flipper-shaped legs and two-flipper shaped arms. Their heads are smaller than the rest of their body. They have V-shaped faces consisting of two dark-colored eyes, a flattened nose, a slightly elongated snout, whiskers, and a mouth. The lifespan of the harbor seal is about 30 years old, but this lifespan can be shortened because of human activities, such as being caught in fishing nets. For four to five weeks each year during the summer months, harbor seals will molt. Their thick fur coats are shed during this molting period (Hopkins State Marine Reserve, n.d., para. 2).
The diet of the harbor seal consists
If one seal touches another while hauling out, they will yell, hit, or bite one another. The harbor seal’s mating season lasts from spring to fall. Female adult harbor seals mate and give birth, either on land or in the water, once a year to a single pup. The female harbor seals then raise their pup alone until the pups are finished weaning after about 4 weeks. In this weaning period, pups will double their weight. Pups are born annually between the month of February into the month of April. Male seals really often times mate with more than one