vertical photo of common seal phoca vitulina on rocks on the isle of arran
a common seal resting on rocks on the shore near Kildonan on the Isle of Arran in Scotland. The Common Seal (UK, Ireland), Harbor Seal () or Harbour Seal (Canada), Phoca vitulina is a true seal of the Northern Hemisphere. Having the widest range of all pinnipeds, they are found in coastal waters of the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as well as those of the Baltic and North Seas. With an estimated 400,000 to 500,000 individuals, the population is not threatened as a whole; most subspecies are secure in numbers with the Greenland, Hokkaidō and Baltic Sea populations being exceptions. Local populations have been reduced or eliminated through outbreaks of disease and conflict with humans, both unintentionally and intentionally. While it is legal to kill seals which are perceived to threaten fisheries in the United Kingdom, Norway and Canada, commercial hunting is illegal; the seals are also taken in subsistence hunting and accidentally as bycatch in fishing nets. In the United States stricter protection applies, and it is illegal to kill any seals or any marine mammals, as they fall under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. On the East Coast of the United States their numbers seem to be increasing quite steadily as they are reclaiming parts of their range, and have been seen as far south as South Carolina. With each individual possessing a unique pattern of fine, dark spots (or light spots on a dark background in some variants), they vary in colour from brownish black to tan or grey; underparts are generally lighter. The body and flippers are short, with a proportionately large, rounded head. The nostrils appear distinctively V-shaped; as with other true seals, there is no ear flap, or pinna. A relatively large (for a seal) ear canal may be visible posterior to the eye. Including the head and flippers, they may reach an adult length of metres and a weight of 130 kilograms. Females are generally smaller than males. Female common seals have a life span of
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Photo credit: © Michael Sayles / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: arran, bask, basking, biology, coast, common, highlands, history, islands, isle, kildonan, mammal, marine, natural, phoca, predator, rock, rocks, rocky, scotland, scottish, sea, seal, shore, swimming, uk, vitulina, wildlife
