Hobbies And Interests
Appearance
Adult harp seals generally grow to between 5 1/4 and 6 1/4 feet long. They can weigh about 400 lbs. Harp seals are a yellow or grey color, and have darker markings along their shoulders and backs. These markings, which some say look like a harp, give the seals their name, and also lead to the harp seal sometimes being called a saddleback seal.
Diet
Harp seals are carnivorous. This means they eat meaty foods. Their diet consists mainly of fish, such as halibut, cod and redfish. Harp seals also eat some crustaceans, such as shrimp. These seals can dive to depths of 330 feet or more in order to find food. Even deeper dives have sometimes been reported. They can hold their breath for up to 15 minutes as they search for a meal.
Habitat
Harp seals spend most of their lives swimming. They have thick layers of fat to protect them from the cold, and are physically designed for hunting and living in the water. Harp seals live in the Arctic and northern Atlantic oceans. Their swimming range stretches from areas in Canada to Iceland and Greenland, and all the way to Norway. Harp seals have breeding grounds in Newfoundland and Greenland, near the Greenland, Barents and White seas.
Life Cycle
Harp seals gather together in groups of thousands at their breeding grounds during late winter or early spring. Here, the male harp seals battle for mates. The young seals are born in the early spring. The mother seals nurse their young for only about 12 days. The young seals molt their white fur and are ready to care for themselves after about a month. Harp seals can live for between 20 and 35 years.
Hunting of Harp Seals
Harp seals are heavily hunted for their fur, fat and other body parts. Thousands of seals are killed each year when they gather at the breeding grounds. Despite all this hunting, harp seals are not considered endangered or even threatened, as of 2011. However, the extreme number of harp seal lives taken every year has caused some concern among conservation communities. Laws are now in place in some areas that regulate the hunting of harp seals. The demand for the fur of the seals has also dropped.