Types of seals. Eared and real: All about the seals of our planet. A female seal with a baby

In the waters of the Black Sea, the monk seal was encountered until the end of the last century as single individuals and in small groups near the southwestern coast of Crimea. Currently, a small number of them live in the Black Sea off the coast of Bulgaria where there are two very small herds, breeding at Cape Kaliakra and south of Bourgas. Occasionally, single individuals are found off the coast of Romania. Part of the Black Sea population lives in the coastal zone of Turkey, apparently, mainly in the western regions. The rest of the range covers the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic coast of Africa to the south, apparently, to the mouth of the Senegal at about 15 ° N. sh. Thus, small groups of monk seals have been preserved on the Greek island of Samos, and in the Tyrrhenian Sea on the Italian island of Montecristo. The monk seal is also found on the Tunisian islands of Galita and Zembra.

The body length of this species is 210-250 cm, with a total weight of about 300 kg. Females are somewhat smaller than males.

They prefer small uninhabited islands or mostly rocky hard-to-reach areas of the coast of larger islands, replete with crevices and caves. For puppies, females choose islets and beaches protected by reefs from wave surges and located above the level of tidal water. In selected areas, seals breed annually. They do not form large clusters. During the breeding season, they gather on the beaches in small groups. Nutritional data are extremely scarce. A flounder was found in the stomach of a female caught in the Danube Delta. In the Mediterranean, monk seals eat wrasses and sparoid fish; off the coast of Africa, lobsters.

The puppies of monk seals apparently occur at the end of summer or even in autumn: in July-August - off the coast of Bulgaria and the Black Sea coast of Turkey; August-September - in the Mediterranean Sea. Females mate shortly after giving birth, sometimes even before the end of lactation, which lasts 1.5-2 months. The duration of pregnancy is 10-11 months. Breeding began, apparently, at the age of four years.

Hawaiian monk seal
Hawaiian Monk Seal
(Monachus schauinslandi)

At present, haulouts of breeding Hawaiian monk seals are located on the northwestern atolls of the Hawaiian Islands: Kure, Pearl and Hermes, Lisyansky, Leysan, French Frigate Shoals, Midway. Previously, they also lived on the islands of the main group of the Hawaiian archipelago: Kauai, Niihau, Oahu and Hawaii.

The body length is approximately 225 cm. The coloration of adult males is dark brown or dark gray-brown on the back, with a white or yellowish-white tint on the belly. Females are lighter in color and tend to be larger than males.

The ecology is similar to that of the monk seal. They feed on various reef and bottom fish, as well as cephalopods.

Female Hawaiian monk seals have an extended birth period from December to August, with a peak in April - May. The length of the newborn is about 125 cm, weight 16 kg. Black soft hairline after 3-5 weeks after birth is replaced by silver-gray-blue on the back and silver-white on the belly. Females bring cubs, apparently, once every two years. The molting of seals takes place from May to November, mostly in July.

Caribbean monk seal
Caribbean Monk Seal
(Monachus tropicalis)

They inhabited the coast and islands of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico from Honduras and Yucatan in the east to Jamaica, Cuba and the Bahamas. The distribution is currently unknown. As early as 1952 they met in the waters of Serranilla Bank in the western part of the Caribbean Sea. Apparently they have disappeared. A special expedition in 1980 failed to find a single Caribbean monk seal. The reason for the decline in numbers is associated with re-industry and various types of anthropogenic impact.

The body length is approximately 1.8-2.7 m. The color of the body is almost uniform brown with a gray tint; the sides are lighter, gradually turning into a pale yellow or yellowish-white belly.

They stayed on the sandy shores. They ate in lagoons and near reefs, apparently mainly on fish. Peak breeding was in December.

southern elephant seal
Southern Elephant Seal
(Mirounga leonina)

Distributed in the southern hemisphere, in subantarctic waters. Its rookeries are located on the Falkland, South Orkney, South Shetland Islands, on the Kerguelen Islands, South Georgia. Outside of the mating season, individuals can be found on the coasts of South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Patagonia and Antarctica.

The body length of a male can reach 5.5 m (according to some sources, and more), its weight is up to 2.5 tons. Females are noticeably smaller, their body length is usually less than 3 m. The trunk of the southern elephant seal is much shorter than that of northern relative, its length is about 10 cm.

Elephant seals are widely migratory animals. In summer, they stay on coastal rookeries, where childbearing, mating and molting take place. For the winter, most move north to warmer waters. And only a small number remain in the areas of coastal rookeries. Elephant rookeries are located on sandy-pebble beaches, often in coves and bays. Non-breeding animals also lie at a considerable distance from the sea (several hundred meters), usually along the banks of streams. Sexually mature animals come to rookeries in spring, in late August - early September. Immature individuals are late by about a month. It is noted that the terms of the appearance of animals are greatly extended, and childbirth is observed from the end of August to the beginning of November, but most often from the end of September to the second decade of October. As a rule, one cub will be born, 75-80 cm long and weighing 15-20 kg. Mating occurs shortly after childbirth, pregnancy lasts about 11 months. Milk feeding lasts about a month, after which the calves often leave the family rookeries and lie down separately from the adults. After the end of lactation, the cubs do not go into the water for several weeks, do not eat anything and exist at the expense of subcutaneous fat. During the formation of harems, there are fights between males. In November, harem rookeries gradually disintegrate. Severely emaciated females feed for some time in the sea, after which they form molting haulouts. Around the same time, that is, in November, immature elephants accumulate near the coast, which soon also begin to molt. Later than all, in March, there is a molt in mature males. Having finished molting, animals of all age groups leave the land. Most of the animals go to the open sea, where they spend the winter. Only a few elephants remain in the rookery area. In the rookery area, elephants feed mainly on cephalopods, less often on fish. The nature of nutrition during the marine period of life is not exactly known, but it is believed that at this time cephalopods are an important part of their diet.

northern elephant seal
Northern Elephant Seal
(Mirounga angustirostris)

Currently, northern elephant seals are found on many islands located along the western coast of North America. In the north, their range reaches the Farallon Islands, and outside the mating season even to Vancouver Island. Along the SR 1 freeway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, elephant seals are becoming a tourist attraction in some places.

Males reach a length of 5 m and weigh about 2.7 tons, females - 3 m, with a weight of about 640 kg. Sexual dimorphism is less pronounced than in the southern species. Larger is, however, the trunk of males, which reaches 30 cm.

Northern elephant seals mate in February. After an 11-month pregnancy, cubs are born in January of the following year. In April-May of the same year, they leave the coast.

Ross seal
Ross Seal
(Ommatophoca rossii)

This is a fairly rare species, and relatively little studied. It lives in the waters of the Antarctic Ocean along the Antarctic.

The body length is about 2 meters and weigh up to 200 kg. The subcutaneous fat layer is highly developed. A very thick, folded neck is characteristic, into which the animal almost completely retracts its head. In this case, it becomes like a barrel.

It does not form clusters and stays alone on the ice. The lifestyle is almost unknown. When the stomachs were opened, cephalopods were found in them, less often crustaceans.

crabeater seal
Crabeater Seal
(Lobodon carcinophagus)

This Antarctic species of seal adheres to an area of ​​pack ice, the northern limit of which defines the northern limit of its distribution. Very rarely, individual animals go as far north as Australia and New Zealand.

The size of adult males is from 2.2 to 2.6 m with a weight of about 200 kg, females are larger - up to 3.6 m in length. They are able to move quickly on land (up to 25 km / h) and jump out of the water onto high ice floes.

Most of the year, including winter, it rests on drifting ice. In summer, when there is little floating ice near the coast of the mainland, they also form coastal haulouts. In autumn, seals mostly migrate to the north, to the edge of floating ice, where they spend the winter. They feed on small crustaceans. The puppy comes in early spring, in September. The period of milk feeding is only about 2-3 weeks. It is believed that young crabeaters begin to enter the water earlier than the pups of most other seals, perhaps even at the age of 2-3 weeks. The crabeater is a very energetic and agile animal.

A unique feature of crabeaters is their teeth with numerous notched protrusions, which are used as a sieve to filter small Euphausia superba krill.

Sea leopard
Leopard Seal
(Hydrurga leptonyx)

The sea leopard is an inhabitant of the Antarctic seas and is found along the entire perimeter of the Antarctic ice. In particular, juveniles swim to the shores of the subantarctic islands and are found on them all year round. Occasionally, migratory or lost animals also end up in Australia, New Zealand and Tierra del Fuego.

The male of the sea leopard reaches a length of about 3 m, the females are somewhat larger with a length of up to 4 m. The weight of males is about 270 kg, and for females it reaches 400 kg.

Along with the orca, the leopard seal is the dominant predator of the south polar region, being able to reach speeds of up to 40 km/h and dive to depths of up to 300 m. It constantly preys on crabeater seals, Weddell seals, eared seals and penguins. Most leopard seals specialize in hunting seals during their lives, although some specialize specifically in penguins. Sea leopards attack their prey in the water and kill them there, however, if the animals flee to the ice, the sea leopards can follow them there as well. Many crabeater seals have scars on their bodies from leopard seal attacks.

Notably, the leopard seal feeds equally on small animals such as krill. Fish in his diet, however, plays a secondary role. It filters small crustaceans from the water with the help of its lateral teeth, which resemble the teeth of a crabeater seal in structure, but are less complex and specialized. Through the holes in the teeth, the sea leopard can drain water from the mouth, filtering the krill. On average, its food consists of 45% krill, 35% seals, 10% penguins and 10% other animals (fish, cephalopods).

Sea leopards live alone. Only young individuals sometimes unite in small groups. Between November and February, leopard seals mate in the water. With the exception of this period, males and females have practically no contacts. Between September and January, a single cub is born on the ice, which is fed with mother's milk for four weeks. At the age of three to four years, leopard seals reach sexual maturity, and their average life expectancy is about 26 years.

Weddell seal
Weddell Seal
(Leptonychotes weddellii)

Distributed near the Antarctic continent and nearby islands. Only a few cases of meeting these animals on the subantarctic islands and even off the coast of Australia and New Zealand are known.

The body length reaches 300 cm, while males are somewhat smaller than females (length up to 260 cm).

It does not make large migrations and keeps mainly in coastal waters, where in summer on ice or on the coast it forms a few haulouts (50-200, rarely more than heads). At the end of autumn, seals stay at the ice edge and make holes in young ice floes - air vents through which they breathe during the long Antarctic winter. The air holes are regularly covered with ice, and the seals renew them just as regularly. They do this work with their teeth, and therefore in old animals the fangs and incisors are broken. Seals rarely come to the surface of the ice in winter, which is apparently due to low air temperatures and strong winds. Breeding occurs in spring, in September - October, on coastal or large floating ice, on which seals form small concentrations. Newborns have a body length of 120-130 cm and a weight of about 25 kg. Young seals enter the water before they have finished milk feeding, at about the age of 6 weeks. Mating occurs shortly after the end of the milk feeding period, pregnancy lasts about 10 months. They can stay under water for up to 60 minutes. Diving when extracting food to considerable depths (up to 800 meters). They feed mainly on cephalopods and fish.

Lahtak
Bearded Seal
(Erignathus barbatus)

It is distributed almost everywhere in the shallow waters of the Arctic Ocean and in the adjacent waters of the Atlantic and Pacific (Bering and Okhotsk Seas) oceans. Lakhtaki have been seen even in the North Pole region. In the Atlantic to the south, it is found up to and including the Hudson Bay and the coastal waters of Labrador. In the Pacific Ocean, it is known to the northern part of the Tatar Strait.

One of the largest representatives of the true seal family (and the largest in the fauna of Russia). Body length - up to 2.5 m, axillary girth 148-161 cm. Weight is variable in seasons depending on fatness, reaching 360 kg in winter.

Bearded seal lives in coastal shallow waters with depths of up to 50-70 m. This dislocation is due to the fact that it feeds mainly on benthic invertebrates (shrimps, crabs, mollusks, sea worms, holothurians) and bottom fish (flounder, polar cod, goby, capelin) . Interestingly, in places where walruses live together, bearded seal is not their food competitor. It feeds mainly on gastropods, while the walrus prefers bivalves.

In summer and autumn, bearded seals are most numerous along low, indented coasts, where there are pebble spits, islands, and shoals exposed at low tide. Rookeries are formed here, on which tens or even hundreds of seals lie. As the ice appears (in late October - early November), bearded seals move on to them. On the ice they keep singly or in groups of 2-3 animals. Lakhtak is a slow, overweight animal and cannot move quickly on ice; for beds, he uses low, non-hummocky ice floes, lying on the edge or near the thaw. Some individuals remain in the coastal strip for the winter, making holes in the ice through which they exit the water. Sometimes the hole is covered with a thick layer of snow, and the animals build a hole in it. Spring occurrence on drifting ice is associated with puppies, molting and mating.

Lakhtaki are predominantly solitary animals. They are very kind to each other. Social relations are little studied. Their main enemy is the polar bear and, in the Far East, the brown one. Mortality of bearded seals, however, depends more on the degree of infection with helminths.

Mating takes place in April - early May on drifting ice. During the rut, males emit a mating whistle. Pregnancy lasts 11-12 months; at its beginning, there is a 2-3-month delay in development and egg implantation (latent phase). Puppy occurs in March - May; so in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk it ends in April, in the Bering Sea - in May. Pups occur in certain areas, however females do not form aggregations. The female brings one cub. The body length of the newborn is about 120 cm, soon after birth he is already able to swim and dive. Milk feeding lasts about 4 weeks. The next mating occurs two weeks after the end of lactation; thus, this species has a pregnancy of almost a year. Females reach sexual maturity at the age of 4-6 years, and males - at 5-7 years. Life expectancy for females is up to 31 years, for males - 25 years.

hooded seal
Hooded Seal
(Cystophora cristata)

This is an Arctic seal species that inhabits the northern regions of the Atlantic Ocean and the adjacent margins of the Arctic Ocean. It is found off the western coast of the Canadian Archipelago (in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait south to the Newfoundland area), off the coast of Greenland, especially in the Denmark Strait, east to about Svalbard. In Russia, it occasionally occurs in the northern parts of the White Sea.

Large males reach a length of almost 3 m (usually 200-280 cm), the weight of the male is about 300 kg. Females are noticeably smaller: 170-230 cm long and weighing about 150 kg.

Unlike a number of other seals, the hooded seal is not directly associated with coastal waters and preferentially sticks to areas near the edge of the Arctic ice. It feeds on fish (cod, herring, sea bass) and cephalopods. During the breeding season, it is concentrated in a few areas limited in area. The main of them will be the areas near the islands of Newfoundland and Jan Mayen, where whelping haulouts are formed on the ice. The timing of puppies in these two areas are somewhat different. On Newfoundland haulouts, puppies occur in late February - early March, on Jan Mayen haulouts - in mid-March. Cubs of the hooded seal, which do not have a white coat, feed on milk for about 2-3 weeks. After the end of lactation, mating occurs. Pregnancy with a latent phase, and its total duration is about 11 months. Mothing haulouts are formed mainly in the Danish Strait (between Greenland and Iceland) in June - early July.

harbor seal
Harbor Seal
(Phoca vitulina)

The area of ​​distribution consists of two separated and far separated sections of the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the first, this seal is found along the southern coast of Greenland, the eastern coast of North America from Baffin and Hudson bays south along the American coast to about 35 ° N. sh. Common in Scandinavia, Iceland, south to the Bay of Biscay. There is in the southern part of the Baltic Sea. Rare along the Murmansk coast. The second section of the range is confined to the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, where seals live in coastal areas of the open ocean and the Bering, Okhotsk and Japan seas south to the coast of the Korean Peninsula inclusive, and along the east coast to California.

Body length geographically varies greatly: from 140 to 190 cm, rarely up to 210 cm. Weight varies depending on the season of the year within 50-150 kg.

In the common seal, two geographical races differ significantly. The animals that inhabit the Atlantic definitely avoid ice, breed and molt on the shores in the summer (late May - June). This race is most attached to the coastal regions and leads a generally settled way of life. Seals of the Pacific race (especially those that keep near the Asian coast) do not avoid ice, and pup and molt occur on large, usually drifting ice floes. The cubs are born covered with thick, long, almost pure white fur, which lasts 3-4 weeks (the pup stage). After the end of milk feeding, which lasts about 3-4 weeks, mating occurs, and thus the pregnancy lasted about 11 months. However, the implantation of the embryo occurs only in September, and, therefore, the latent phase of pregnancy lasts 2-3 months. Some individuals reach sexual maturity at three years, but most by four years. Moulting occurs on the ice from mid-May to early July. At this time, haulouts of tens and sometimes hundreds of heads are formed. This is a very cautious animal with well-developed hearing and vision. On the ice it moves easily and in danger of movement is somewhat reminiscent of jumping. After the disappearance of ice, it stays in coastal waters, especially near the mouths of rivers, where salmon fish swim for spawning, on which seals feed. In addition, it often eats herring, smelt, capelin, saffron cod.

Larga
Spotted Seal
(Phoca largha)

It lives in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to Japan and the Far East coast of Russia.

The length of adult males and females is up to 190-220 cm, the maximum weight in autumn can be 130-150 kg, in spring it usually does not exceed 80-100 kg.

In the Sea of ​​Japan, the spotted seal is quite widely distributed along the coast. It does not form large concentrations, haulouts can number from several dozen to 100 or more seals. In spring, spotted seals can be observed in the Tatar Strait and on the northwestern coast of Sakhalin. Although Larga is considered a fish-eating seal, shrimps, small crabs and octopuses play an important role in its diet, which it successfully catches in the coastal zone. Puppy occurs in the Amur Bay in February-March, in the more northern regions of the Sea of ​​Japan, the period of birth of cubs is shifted to a later date, March-April. Until the age of one month, the cub feeds mainly on mother's milk, then it begins to gradually master the seafood - it catches small crabs, shrimps and octopuses. By autumn, puppies grow up and are able to switch to self-feeding. Attachment to parents in puppies lasts for about more than a year, seals usually lie together on haulouts.

Baikal seal
Baikal Seal
(Pusa sibirica)

It lives in Lake Baikal, especially widely in its northern and middle parts. In June, on the shores of the Ushkany Islands, you can see especially many seals. At sunset, the seals begin a massive movement towards the islands. These animals are curious and sometimes swim up to drifting ships with the engine turned off, staying nearby for a long time and constantly emerging from the water.

The average body length of an adult seal is 165 cm (from the end of the nose to the end of the hind flippers). Weight from 50 to 130 kg, females are larger than males. Linear growth in seals ends by the age of 17–19, and weight growth continues for a number of years and is possible until the end of life. Live up to 55 years.

In a calm environment, the speed of movement under water does not exceed 7-8 km / h. She swims with greater speed when moving away from danger. On a solid substrate, the seal moves rather slowly, flipping with flippers and tail. In case of danger, he goes to the races.

According to fishermen, seals have been caught in nets at depths of up to 200 m, but, as a rule, they dive to much shallower depths. The seal finds food in a well-lit area (25-30 m) and, apparently, it does not need to dive deep. The seal is capable of diving up to 400 m, and can withstand a pressure of 21 atm. In nature, it happens under water for up to 20-25 minutes. - this is enough for her to get food or get away from danger.

For a year, an adult seal eats up to 1 ton of fish. The main food of the seal is golomyanka-goby fish. Omul is caught in the food of the seal by chance and in very small quantities, no more than 1-2% of the daily diet.

By the age of 3-4, seals become sexually mature. Pregnancy lasts 11 months, of which the first 3-5 lasts embryonic diapause. She gives birth to cubs in a specially prepared snow lair. Most of the seals are born in mid-March. Usually the female gives birth to one, rarely two cubs. Newborn weight up to 4 kg. The skin of the cubs is silver or silver-gray. For about 4-6 weeks, the cub spends exclusively inside the den, feeding on mother's milk. By the time the lair collapses, he manages to shed almost completely. The mother takes care of the baby, leaving only for the time of hunting. In the presence of the mother, the temperature inside the lair reaches +5 °C, while outside there are frosts of -15 ... -20 °C. The lactation period ends in 2-2.5 months. With the transition to self-feeding by fish, seals molt, the fur gradually changes color to silver-gray in 2-3-month-olds, and then to brown-brown in older and adult individuals.

Winters on ice in lairs under snow, often on hummocky areas of Lake Baikal. When the lake is ice-bound, the seal can breathe only through vents - vents - spare holes in the ice. The seal makes blows by raking the ice from below with the claws of the forelimbs. Around her lair there are up to a dozen or more auxiliary vents, which can be tens or even hundreds of meters away from the main one. The airways are usually round in shape. The size of the auxiliary air is 10–15 cm (sufficient to stick your nose above the surface of the water), and the main air is up to 40–50 cm. From the bottom, the air is in the form of an inverted funnel - it expands significantly downward. Interestingly, the ability to make produkh is an innate instinct.

Caspian seal
Caspian Seal
(Pusa caspica)

Distributed throughout the Caspian Sea, but due to massive seasonal migrations, it is concentrated in different parts of the sea, depending on the season.

Body length 120-148 cm, weight is about 50-60 kg. The sizes of females and males are about the same.

In summer, the bulk of the seal keeps in the southern, deep-water part of the sea, south of the mouth of the Terek - on the western coast of the sea and near the Mangyshlak peninsula - on the east. Most of the time they spend on the water and only in some places form coastal rookeries. At the end of August, seals begin to migrate to the northern parts of the sea. Moreover, most of the animals go along the eastern coast of the sea. Sexually mature females go first, then adult males, and the last - immature animals. The mass move happens in November - December. In October - November, the seals accumulated in the northern part of the sea form large coastal haulouts on the sandbanks of the islands and spits. They exist before the formation of ice. In January, females gathered in herds (shoals) enter the ice, where they form whelping haulouts, which are usually located in the central parts of ice accumulations, on hard ice. The period of puppies in different years stretches from the end of January to April. The newborn lies at the hole right on the ice. Females spend most of their time in the water, leaving the ice only to feed the young. Milk feeding lasts about 4-5 weeks. Before the end of milk feeding, whelping females begin to molt, gathering in large shoals. At the end of March, males join the molting females. Schools of molting animals are increasing. The molting ends by the beginning of May, by the time the ice disappears. The seals, which did not have time to flood on the ice, form small molting haulouts on shallows and spits. Mating takes place on the ice shortly after puppies, that is, from the end of February, and lasts for almost the entire month of March. Only as an exception, mating occurs on the shore. Males reach puberty in their third year, females in their second. After the end of the molt, a reverse mass migration of seals from the northern parts of the sea to the southern parts occurs, where they spend the summer.

The Caspian seal feeds mainly on non-commercial fish species (gobies, smelt) and crustaceans. When obtaining food, it can dive to a depth of up to 80 m.

ringed seal
Ring Seal
(Pusa hispida)

Distributed in the Arctic Ocean, mainly in its marginal seas and in the seas of the northern parts of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, where there are ice at least in winter. To the south, it is found to the coast of Norway, the Baltic Sea, along the Atlantic coast of North America to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and along the Pacific coast - to the Alaska Peninsula, along the Asian coast - to the northern part of the Tatar Strait. There are in the lakes of Russia and Finland.

The body length is usually in the range of 110-140 cm, the largest animals reach a length of 150 cm. The weight varies greatly by season due to the accumulation of fat. It is greatest in autumn and winter, when most animals (adults) reach 40-80 kg.

Although the seal is not associated with shallow waters, it clearly gravitates to coastal waters for most of the year, especially those where the coast is indented by bays, where there are islands. It does not make large migrations, however, depending on the time of year, its concentrations are observed in several different places. In summer, it lives mainly in coastal waters and in some places forms small haulouts on stones or pebble spits. In autumn, as the sea freezes, most of the animals leave the coastal zone deep into the sea and stay on drifting ice. A smaller number of them remain for the winter near the coast and keep in bays and bays. In this case, even at the beginning of the freezing of the sea, the seal makes holes in the young ice - loopholes through which it emerges from the water. The largest concentrations of seals are observed in the spring on drifting ice during puppies, molting and mating. This is especially characteristic of the seas of the Far East, where in one day of swimming in the ice one can observe many hundreds, and sometimes thousands of animals. More often, seals lie in groups of 10-20 heads, but there are clusters of a hundred or more animals. They remain on the ice until they disappear. Puppy occurs on the ice from late February to early May depending on the area. Animals wintering in the coastal region often breed in snow burrows. Sometimes such burrows are built on drifting ice. In other cases, strong ice floes with hummocks are chosen for childbirth, among which the newborn takes refuge. The cub is born with a length of about 50 cm and a weight of about 4.5 kg. Milk feeding lasts about a month, and during this time the cubs do not go into the water, but the seal itself regularly leaves the seal and feeds in the sea. Sexual maturity in a few females occurs in the fourth year of life, in most - in the fifth year, most males become sexually mature at the age of 5-7 years. Soon after puppies in adults, a molt begins, lasting until the end of summer, and sometimes until autumn. The composition of food is very diverse: various crustaceans and mass species of fish - capelin, saffron cod, smelt.

gray seal
gray seal
(Halichoerus grypus)

The species range is the temperate waters of the North Atlantic, in America - the coast from New England to Labrador and southern Greenland, the largest colony is on Sable Island near Nova Scotia. In Europe - the coast of Iceland, the British Isles, Norway and the Kola Peninsula. A separate subspecies lives in the Baltic Sea - Halichoerus grypus macrorhynchus. In the south, representatives of the species are seen up to Virginia (in Europe - in the Bay of Biscay), in the north they can be found up to Novaya Zemlya.

The length of males is about 2.5 m (rarely - up to 3 m or more), females - 1.7-2 m. The weight of males is up to 300 kg or more, and females - 100-150 kg.

They prefer deserted rocky shores; off the coast of Canada it often lies on ice. The food is mainly pelagic large fish - cod, flounder, salmon, less often smaller ones - gobies, herring, capelin, etc., even more rarely crustaceans and mollusks. It can dive for food to a depth of 128 m.

Cubs are born in the Baltic Sea and in the Western Atlantic in late winter or early spring, and in the Eastern Atlantic in autumn. The period of childbearing is greatly extended. The females of the first two populations give birth on the ice, while those of the third population give birth on the shore. There is one, very rarely two cubs in the litter. Gray seals are polygamous, the male gathers a harem around him, numbering up to 10-20 females. There are fights between males. Sexual maturity in females occurs at 3 years of age, and in males at 6-7 years of age.

harp seal
Harp Seal
(Pagophilus groenlandicus)

Harp seals are found in the Arctic Ocean. There are three populations separated from each other: in the White Sea, outside the mating season in the Barents and Kara Seas; off the coast of Labrador and Newfoundland, as well as in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, outside the mating season, also along all the Atlantic coasts of Canada and Greenland; north of Jan Mayen, outside the mating season on the shores of Svalbard and eastern Greenland.

Harp seals are 170 to 180 cm long and weigh 120 to 140 kg.

It feeds on pelagic crustaceans and fish (cod, capelin, herring, cod, halibut, gobies). Performs migrations. In April-May, Serks are the first to leave the White Sea for the Barents Sea. They migrate actively, in small groups, or passively, along with moving ice. Serks are followed by immature, and then adults. Summers are spent on the edge of the ice from Novaya Zemlya to Svalbard. It returns at the beginning of winter, but some individuals remain in the White Sea for the summer. Sheds from mid-March to the first half of June. At this time, not only the hairline changes, but also the top layer of the skin. During molting, it lies on ice floes and does not eat anything. On moulting fallows, adult males first gather, and then females and immature individuals. During molting, it settles on broken ice near cracks and leads, avoiding large ice fields.

During the mating season from January to February, harp seals are on ice floes, where they give birth to offspring. They huddle in colonies, which can consist of up to ten thousand individuals. Males fight with fangs and fins for the right to mate with females. Mating takes place on ice. After birth, the cubs are fed with milk containing an extremely high fat content, and at the same time they gain almost two kilograms a day. Young animals do not yet have a thick fat layer and therefore the regulation of heat occurs due to constant trembling. Of decisive importance in the first weeks of life is the white coat with which the cubs (whites) are covered. It consists, like polar bears, of transparent hollow hairs that let the sun's rays pass directly onto black skin and warm it. After weaning from milk, the cubs spend about 10 more days on the ice, until the hair falls out and is replaced by a characteristic silvery color with black patterns. Immediately after the birth of the cubs, the females are again fertilized by the males. The gestation period is about 11.5 months. It also includes 4.5 months, in which the fertilized egg is in "hibernation" and does not develop.

striped seal
Ribbon Seal
(Histriophoca fasciata)

The distribution of this seal is not well understood. It is known that in spring and early summer it occurs on ice in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Bering Sea and in the southern regions of the Chukchi Sea. It occasionally happens at this time on the ice of the northern part of the Tatar Strait.

The body length of an adult animal is 150-190 cm, weight is 70-90 kg. In a cub at birth, 70-80 cm.

It prefers open areas of the sea, but when ice drifts, it can also appear in coastal areas. Spring-summer occurrence on the ice is associated with puppies, mating and molting. After the disappearance of the ice, it goes to the open parts of the seas. Puppy happens in March - April. Belek does not go into the water and, in case of danger, hides among the hummocks. On pure white ice, its color merges with the general background of the area, and only large dark eyes betray the presence of a hidden young animal. Mating occurs on the ice in June - July (sometimes in May - June). Sexual maturity occurs earlier than in other northern seals, already from the second year of life, but more often at 3-4 years. Molting takes place in May - June very rapidly, and together with the old hair, the upper layer of the epidermis comes off in patches. Adults feed mainly on fish (pollock, cod), cephalopods, and less often on crustaceans.