HARBOR SEALSBy Chris

Harbor Seals are amazing ceatures that are perfectly adapted to marine life. They evolved from prehistoric animals very similar to dogs.

In fact, Harbor Seals are very distant relatives of man's best friend.

Even so, humans have hunted them for their meat, oil, and fur for ages and ages.

 
      
   
   

      

         

            Basic
            Information
         
         

            Harbor
            Seal Babies
         
         

            Other
            Bad News
         
      
      

         

            Fun
            Facts
         
         

            Problems
         
         

            Other
            Information
         
      
      

         

            Bad
            Mistake
         
         

            Solution
         
         

            Special
            Thanks
         
      
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    

•Adult Harbor Seals can grow from about four and a half to six and a half feet long .

•Harbor seals can live a maximum of twenty-five to thirty years. Males have a shorter lifespan, which may be due to the stress of fighting during breeding seasons.

•Harbor Seals are sometimes preyed upon by killer whales, sharks, polar bears, Steller sea lions, walruses, coyotes, and eagles.

 

•You can sometimes tell a Harbor Seal's age by the number of growth rings in its teeth, but it may bite you if you try!

•Harbor Seals' flippers used to be hind legs!

•Harbor Seals can hold their breath underwater for up to fifteen minutes!

•Harbor Seals sleep on the bottom for up to fifteen minutes!

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NEVER approach or touch Harbor Seal pups. They are often left alone while the female hunts for food. She may not return if you have disturbed her baby. However, if the pup is left alone for more than twelve hours, contact a wildlife sanctuary, rehabilitation center, or another wildlife-involved place.

NEVER disturb a colony of Harbor Seals. This can disturb their entire breeding season.

NEVER take a Harbor Seal home as a pet!!!!!!!! This is the worst mistake

of all! AND......It's ILLEGAL!!!!

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•Harbor Seal pups are usually about two feet long and twenty to twenty-four pounds at birth.

• Harbor Seal pups are recognized by their mothers by sound and smell.

•After weaning,Harbor Seal pups first learn to catch shrimp and other small crustaceans.

•Harbor Seals give birth to a single pup in Spring.

•Baby Harbor Seals are either born in the water or on land.

•Baby Harbor Seals have a crying sound that is much like the sound "Maa!".

• Baby Harbor Seals are weaned after six weeks of drinking their mothers' milk.

• The gestation period for Harbor Seals is nine months.

 

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• Harbor Seals can sometimes be poisoned by sewage and other polluted water pumped into the ocean.

• Harbor Seals often become entangled in fishing nets and can die of starvation or suffocation.

• Harbor Seals are often hunted illegally by fur traders, fishermen, and poachers.

 

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• You can try to discuss the huge problem of water pollution with someone who runs or is in charge of a company or business that is contributing to it.

• When a Harbor Seal is caught in fishing gear in the water, you must be very patient to get it out. It is best done on the surface, sothat the effective weight is less. If the seal is tangled in a trawl or drift net, don't lift it onto the boat if it appears to be alert. If you do, it may suffer cardiac arrest or respiratory collapse. UNLESS you have no other options, never tow a Harbor Seal out to sea, or you might hurt or even kill it.

• If you see someone hunting or causing any harm to a Harbor Seal, call the police, wildlife sanctuary, or any other help available.

 

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• The pup mortality rate is around twenty-one percent in their first year. Pups usually die because of starvation, being abandoned, getting washed away at high tide, or being sick or hurt badly.

• Twelve years ago, in the year of my birth, over eighteen thousand Harbor Seals died because of a disease called Phocine Distemper Virus. The disease is similar to Canine Distemper Virus.

• Newly weaned Harbor Seals often starve, have lung worms infestring their respiratory system, or get Pneumonia.

 

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•When a Harbor Seal is mad, it may growl, snort, wave its front flippers, or rapidly extend and contract its neck.

• Harbor Seals are the least "talkative" of all pinnipeds.

• The most dominant Harbor Seal in a large group is usually the one on the warmest and driest sand.

• Adult Harbor Seals usually eat six to eight percent of their body weight each day.

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• To my favorite grandfather Pagy, for taking me to the aquarium. If it weren't for him, I never would have gotten into this.

• To my Gateway instructor Ms.G. I never could have done it without her.

• To Rebecca and Courtney, my website partners, for rushing me so I could get all this stuff on the computer.

• To Thinkquest, for sponsoring this program.