Harp Seal

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).

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harp seal

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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Harp Seal 

or Greenland seal (Phoca [Pagophilus] groen-landica), a mammal of the family Phocidae, order Pinnipedia. Body length, 160–195 cm; weight 100–160 kg. The coloration of the adult is white with two large, dark fields. Harp seals live in arctic waters, where they form three herds: the New foundland, the Jan-Mayen, and the White Sea. In summer they live in small groups at the edge of ice floes, feeding on pelagic crustaceans, mollusks, and small fish. In autumn the harp seals migrate to the regions where they bear young, moult, and mate; there they form large groups on the ice (“infant rookeries”). Harp seals are the main game of commercial sealing in the north of Europe. Their fat is used; the newborn seals yield a valuable fur. As a result of uncontrolled hunting, their numbers have sharply declined in the last decades.