Life Stages of the Harp Seal

Yellowjacket

• While baby harp seals are commonly thought of as having white fur, they are not white at birth. Their fur has a yellowish color. This is from the amniotic fluid staining the coat while the pup was in the womb. Another name for these harp seal pups is "yellowcoat." Harp seal pups weigh up to 22 lbs. at birth and can be about 3 feet long. These animals are usually born in the spring.

Whitecoat

• The white fur harp seals are known for won't appear until about three days following birth. However, they go through two white coat stages: thin white coat, when they are still newborns nursing on their mother's milk, and fat white coat, when they have gained sufficient weight and strength to move around and strengthen their muscles.

Raggedy Jacket

• Young harp seals spend 12 days nursing on their mother's milk. After they're finished, the fur starts to change. At this point, they weigh a minimum of 80 lbs. They start to develop gray spots along their white coats. Then the white coat loosens and starts to fall out. A new brown coat becomes visible and this color change gives them a "raggedy" appearance. Thus this stage, which lasts for about a week, is called the "raggedy jacket" stage.

Beater

• The "beater" name is given to this stage of a harp seal's life, because it "beats" the water with its flippers. The seals aren't able to swim at this stage. The harp seal enters the beater stage between the ages of 3 weeks and 3 months. The white and brown coats are completely gone at this point, and in its place is a gray pelt with dark gray spots.

Bedlamer

• This name was given to the harp seals by the Basque and Breton settlers in the Strait of Belle Isle. It comes from the French "Betes de la mer," which means "beasts of the sea. " This stage occurs when the seals are about 13 to 14 months old. Their old pelt has molted and they now have a new pelt that looks almost the same.

Adulthood

• When their pelt starts developing the harp image these animals are named after, they may still have spots on their pelts, earning them the name of a "spotted harp." When the harp is formed, the head is now black and all the spots may be gone. The onset of the harp is a sign of adulthood in these animals. The male harp seals reach adulthood between 7 to 8 years of age. The female harp seal reaches adulthood between the ages of 4 to 6 years old. The female will start to reproduce at any time at this point. Female harp seals are able to give birth to two pups, though they usually only have one pup each year.