Harbour Seal 



cc. Teeth small, 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 toe longest. 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 (Linnaeus) 



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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