Harp seals

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Marine Animal Nonfiction Books

The natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism.

A spoken or written representation or account of a person, object, or event.

A&nbsp;bibliography&nbsp;is a list of all of the sources you have used (whether referenced or not) in the process of researching your work.

A group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding.

An animal lacking a backbone, such as an arthropod, mollusk, annelid, coelenterate, etc.

A musical instrument, roughly triangular in shape, consisting of a frame supporting a graduated series of parallel strings, played by plucking with the fingers.&nbsp;

Baby seals&nbsp;are born on pack ice floating in the North Atlantic and&nbsp;Arctic&nbsp;Oceans.&nbsp;Harp seal&nbsp;mothers are able to identify their&nbsp;babies&nbsp;by their smell! The pups don't have any blubber at birth, but quickly gain weight nursing on high-fat mother's milk.

"Baby harp seal" (pup) playing in the snow.

Harp seals are about 5 to 6 feet long and they weigh about 260 to 300 pounds. Harp seals have a robust body with a small, flat head. Adult harp seals have light gray fur with a black mask on their face and a curved black patch on their back. This black patch looks like a harp and is the reason of the specie's common name.

Introduction Description Food Habitat Harp seal pups Behavioral adaptions Land or Water Facts Glossery Pictures Bibilyography

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Harp seals eat many (more than 130 species) types of fish and invertebrates. Some seals have been found with more than 65 species of fish and 70 species of invertebrates in their stomachs. Their most common type of prey is smaller fishes such as Capelin, Arctic cod, and polar cod. Harp seals are omnivores.

Watercolor texture 2

National Geographic: Stories of Animals, Nature, and Culture

All Species Directory Page | NOAA Fisheries

National Geographic Kids

Oceana

OneKindPlanet - Animal Facts, Education & Inspiration

Harp seal - Wikipedia

Smithsonian Ocean | Smithsonian Ocean

Harp seals tend to spend relatively little time on land; rather they seem to enjoy spending most of their time in the waters of northern Atlantic and Arctic oceans. They are considered to be semi aquatic marine mammals because of the extent to which they spend their time in water.

With a thick layer of blubber under their skin,&nbsp;harp seals&nbsp;are able to hold their body heat more easily. This layer of fat also provides a means of buoyancy, stores energy, and gives the&nbsp;seals&nbsp;a shape that is better suited for the aquatic environment where they are often found.

Harp seals are usually swimming in water but sometimes they come out in land. Harp seals spend only significant amounts of time on&nbsp;land&nbsp;during the birthing season. The rest of their lives are spent in the&nbsp;water. The&nbsp;Harp Seals' annual migration to and from the birthing grounds can add up to 8000 km. “Pagophilus Groenlandicus” means “ice-lover from Greenland.” Harp seals&nbsp;dive, feed, play and sometimes&nbsp;live in the sunlight zone, the top&nbsp;zone&nbsp;of the ocean.

The harp seal, also known as saddleback seal or Greenland seal, is a species of earless seal, or true seal, native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean. Originally in the genus Phoca with a number of other species, it was reclassified into the monotypic genus Pagophilus in 1844.

Harp seals can live for an estimated 30 years

Harp seal pups are born with long white fur that helps them absorb sunlight and stay warm while they are still developing blubber

Harp seals are highly migratory and can travel more than 3,100 miles (4,989 km) roundtrip to feed.

Harp seals can stay underwater for at least 16 minutes at a time.

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