BEARDED SEAL 



animals fans out, some to work westward into the Gulf, others 

 to continue south along the eastern coast of Newfoundland. 



Early in February the Seals begin the northern movement, 

 and in March the young are bom either off the Straits of Belle 

 Isle or in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The young are left on 

 drifting ice-pans, generally not over a few inches in thickness. 

 The old Seals make holes through the ice-sheets by which to 

 come and go. Captain Robert A. Bartlett gives the numbers 

 of Seals in the two main herds as 300,000 in the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence and 500,000 off Belle Isle, and comments on the 

 ability of the old Seals to find their young after a day's 

 absence when the drift has shifted the ice for several miles. 

 But one young is born to a mother ; twins are rare. 



After the young Seals are able to leave the ice and take to 

 the water, the families move north, eventually to the coast of 

 Greenland. 



Bartlett gives the speed of the Seal as twenty miles per 

 hour for a limited period, and estimates the time it can re- 

 main under water as about twenty minutes. This animal is 

 known to eat fish which occur at a depth of about two hundred 

 feet. 



Genus Erignathus 



Dentition : Same as for Phoca ; proportionally weak. 



Bearded Seal. — Erignathus barbatus 



and related forms 



General Description. — A large, plain-colored Seal, much 

 larger than the Harbor Seal, reaching a length of 10 to 12 

 feet. Color everywhere grayish to yellowish (considerable 

 individual variation), darkest along back; a prominent tuft of 

 long, flattened bristles on each side of muzzle which gives 

 animal a "bearded" appearance. 



Geographical Distribution. — Found in polar seas south to 

 Newfoundland. 



Species and Subspecies of the Genus Erignathus. 



Atlantic Bearded Seal. — Erignathus barbatus barbatus 

 (Erxleben). 

 As described above. Found along northeastern North 

 America from Newfoundland north. 



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