harbor seal

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harbor seal,

most commonly seen sealseal,
carnivorous aquatic mammal with front and hind feet modified as flippers, or fin-feet. The name seal is sometimes applied broadly to any of the fin-footed mammals, or pinnipeds, including the walrus, the eared seals (sea lion and fur seal), and the true seals, also called
..... Click the link for more information.  of the Northern Hemisphere, Phoca vitulina. Harbor seals are found along coasts and in sheltered bays and harbors of North America, Europe, and NE Asia. They range farther south than any other northern seal, being found in North America as far S as New Jersey and S California. They range north to the southernmost limits of the ice cap. Also known as common seals, hair seals, and leopard seals, they enter rivers, and are even found in the Great Lakes. Small seals, they reach a length of up to 6 ft (180 cm) and a weight of up to 250 lb (110 kg). Their coats are gray with white spots or yellowish with gray or black blotches. Harbor seals are solitary hunters; they feed on fish, mollusks, and crustaceans, coming ashore to rest and sleep. They may gather in large numbers on rocks or beaches, especially at the mating season. They are polygamous and the female produces a single pup in early spring. Small colonies of several families each occupy particular locations in the water, usually near rocky shores or islands, and may remain there for many generations. Their greatest enemies are sharks and killer whales. Harbor seals are classified in the phylum ChordataChordata
, phylum of animals having a notochord, or dorsal stiffening rod, as the chief internal skeletal support at some stage of their development. Most chordates are vertebrates (animals with backbones), but the phylum also includes some small marine invertebrate animals.
..... Click the link for more information. , subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Carnivora, suborder Pinnipedia, family Phocidae.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia™ Copyright © 2013, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/
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References in periodicals archive ?
Adult grey seals are much larger than common seals, with fully grown bulls measuring more than three metres in length and weighing up to 300 kilograms.
Sun, sand and seals: the British coast offers several ideal locations to see both common and grey seals, particularly during summer and autumn, when these expressive marine mammals come ashore to give birth to pups. Keith Wilson explains how to photograph Britain's pinnipeds
In fact, common seal Patches has become so fond of his human buddies, he refuses to go back to the wild.
Meet Patches the comMan seal; MAMMAL WHO THINKS HE'S HUMAN ..& HERE'S ANOTHER SEAL WHO ACTUALLY IS A PERSON
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50 Years Ago The Droitwich Rural Council for nearly 20 years has been using on its documents a common seal, now been found to be illegal.
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The Institute shall be a body corporate having perpetual succession and common seal. While briefing the Committee about its objectives, the Federal Minister said that it will meet the local needs, particularly in the cotton-related technology, of south Punjab producing 50% of cotton.
NA urges completion of probe into charges against QAU VC
The common seal pup was spotted by a member of the public on a beach in Towyn, near Abergele, on Sunday.
SEAL PUP RESCUED FROM TOWYN BEACH
The bill provides that the university will be a corporate body having perpetual succession and a common seal, with powers, among others to acquire and hold property, both movable and immovable, and to lease, sell or otherwise transfer any movable and immovable property which may have become vested in or been acquired by it.
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As well as being granted Freedom of the District, three Illuminated Minutes under the Common Seal of the Council will be presented for display at the Town Hall, by the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers at their barracks and the Tower of London.
Homecoming parade to honour town's Fusiliers
Bosses at an RSPCA wildlife centre said large numbers of sick common seal pups had been found in the past four months.
Sealed with a kiss - but vets still worried
Expert Jane Delany, a lecturer in the school of marine science and technology at Newcastle University, said: "The grey or common seal are found on the beaches in the North East all of the time, they are not unusual.
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ONE in 10 of Scotland's common seal population could be wiped out by a flu-type virus, executive officials have warned.
Seal 'flu' warning
Environment Minister Ross Finnie confirmed the first case of phocine distemper virus after a post-mortem examination was carried out by vets on a common seal found washed ashore at Dornoch in the Moray Firth on September 11.
Seal killer virus spreads

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