Harbour Seal 
cc. Teethsmall, distinctly separated and placed straight in the jaws. 
d. First toe always longer than the second. Ringed Seal 
dd. First toe not longer than the second. Harp Seal. 
bb. Muzzle broad, forehead convex, middle toelongest. Bearded Seal. 
bbb. Muzzle broad, facial part of head very long, first, and second 
toes longest, whiskers crenulated. Gray Seal. 
aa. Front teeth 4 above, 2 below, a bladder-like sack on the head 
of the male. Hooded Seal. 
Harbour Seal 
Phoca vitulina (Linnzus) 
Also called Common Seal. 
Length. 4 feet. 
Description. Colouration variable ; generally yellowish-gray above 
irregularly spotted with black, beneath yellowish-white with 
small black spots. Often dark-brown everywhere varied with 
light spots. First toe never longer than the second. 
Range. North Atlantic south occasionally to New Jersey and in Europe 
to Mediterranean, replaced on the Pacific by the closely allied 
Palla’s seal. (Phoca largha Pallas.) 
Three distinct species of the genus Phoca occur on the eastern 
coast of North America: the harbour seal, ringed seal and harp 
seal. The last two are of Arctic distribution, while the first and 
best-known species is found as far south as the coast of New 
England and the Middle States. 
All the seals are gregarious, especially during the breeding 
season, and are migratory to a greater or less extent, the harbour 
seal being apparently less of a wanderer than the others. The 
harbour seal is also distinctly a coast species, seldom venturing 
far to sea, and living and breeding on the exposed rocky ledges 
along the shore. The others, on the contrary, are found out in 
the open ocean and frequent the ice floes of the northern seas. 
Young seals at birth are covered with a thick white woolly 
coat, which is later supplanted by the ordinary hair, and until 
the change occurs they do not take to the water. As a rule, 
but one young is produced each year; sometimes it is born 
upon the bare rocks, while in case of the ringed seal an excava- 
tion is made under the snow communicating with a hole through 
the ice, and here the young remains for several weeks, tended 
by the mother. 
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