near shore„ Like the coyote and the rat, the harbor seal has been fairly 

 successful in maintaining its population in the face of persecution by man. 

 Of all seals and sea-lions it is the only one to be fovind commonly in har- 

 bors and bays. 



Breeding habits 



Harbor seals do not breed in organized colonies, and they do not 

 form harems. The single young is born from late May to August, usually 

 on a sandbar or outlying reef. The pup is able to swim at birth. When 

 tired it may crawl on the mother's back. Mating takes place after the pup 

 is weaned, which may be as early as June or July or as late as September. 

 In northern areas where birth and copulation occiir on the pack ice breed- 

 ing is earlier. 



Feeding habits 



The harbor seal feeds on a variety of fish and shellfish. From I>uget 

 Sound and the semi-enclosed coastal waters of Washington, 100 stomachs 

 were analyzed. Of these, 94 contained fish, and 6 contained shellfish. 

 The fishes foimd in greatest numbers were flounders, herring, tomcod, 

 hake, sculpins, pollack, shiner, cod, and lingcod, in this order. Salmon 

 were found in 2 stomachs. Of 35 stomachs from the Nisqually River flats, 

 13 (pups) contained milk; the rest contained the fish listed above; 2 con- 

 tained salmon. Seals from the Copper River flats in Alaska during late 

 May and June had fed almost entirely on evilachon (river smelt). From 

 southeastern Alaska, 99 stomachs examined contained mostly fish of the cod 

 family, followed by herring and flovinders and small quantities of other 

 fish including salmon. From British Columbia, of 20 seal stomachs con- 

 taining food, salmon were foimd in 5, the usual fish and shellfish in the 

 others. 



The food of the harbor seal varies considerably according to the 

 time of year and the presence of nearby fish runs. More stomachs, with 

 the date and place of collection, are needed in order to complete our 

 knowledge of feeding habits. 



Harbor seals often raid gillnets, damaging the captured fish and 

 tearing the nets. They are thus considered an expensive nuisance by most 

 fishermen. 



Harbor seal, adult male. 

 Scale line: one inch. 



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