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HARP SEAL

Harp Seal

Trinity Christian Schools

Maureen Helm
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HARP SEAL

Table of Contents:

Abstract 3

Harp Seal 4

References 10
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HARP SEAL

Abstract

Pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, walruses) are a unique group of marine mammals that feed in

the ocean but return to land for molting and reproduction. Harp seals, or Pagophilus

groenlandicus, are a species of pinniped mammals that live in the frosty arctic and rely on special

adaptions such as blubber and heightened sense to survive this extreme climate. Harp seals are a

highly migratory species that can dive up to 200 m in the water to obtain food. Harp seals eat

large quantities of fish, as well as invertebrates, and are the prey to whales, polar bears, and other

predators that inhabit the arctic region. Harp seals’ population has dramatically decreased since

the 1900s as their fur, oil, and blubber has been used in cultures around the world. However,

many conservation groups and marine animal activists have fought to control this decline in

population. The objective of this paper is to inform the reader about the harp seal and their

biological and economic role in the world today, as well as to illustrate how they came about and

the differing views on their creation.

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Marine Bio IRS: Harp Seals

Marine mammals are a diverse group of mammals that have unique adaptions that allow

them to flourish in extreme environments. They have all of the characteristics of mammals: they

breathe through their lungs, they have hair (or fur) and produce milk for their young.

Furthermore, they live most, if not all, of their lives in or near the ocean. Marine mammals are

categorized into four taxonomic groups: cetaceans, pinnipeds, sirenians, and marine fissipeds or

carnivores. Pinnipeds are carnivores that use flippers to move on land and through water. They

live the majority of their lives swimming and feeding, usually only coming on to land to breed or

rest. Pagophilus groenlandicus, also known as the harp seal, is a species of marine mammals,

specifically a pinniped, from the Phylum Chordata which is found in arctic regions of the world.

Harp seals are a type of marine mammal that can live up to 30 years. Their scientific

name is Pagophilus groenlandicus and they are classified as a type of pinniped, a category of

marine mammals that includes seals, sea lions, and other relatives.

Figure 1. Classification of the harp seal

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Mammalia
Order Carnivore
Family Phocidae
Genus Pagophilus
Species P. groenlandicus

This table shows the taxonomy of the harp seal in the order kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus,
and species it belongs to (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/harp-seal).
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The harp seal is one of the most abundant and well-known of all pinniped species. Its

common name, the harp or saddleback seal, originates from the black “horseshoe” shaped

marking found on the back of the adult seals (“Harp Seals”, 2004). Both adult males and females

are about 1.6 m long and weigh around 140 kg, or 300 lbs. The head of full-grown seals are also

black, whereas the rest of the body is either white or grey. In females, the face and “harp” shaped

marking color is paler than that of the males. Young harp seals have a white pelt. Some pups fur

may be dyed yellow at birth due to amniotic fluid, but it fades to white a few days after they are

born. However, about 20-25 days later, pups begin to lose their white coat in clusters, giving

them a “jagged coat.” Soon after, young harp seals develop black spots that become larger as the

seal becomes more mature (Pagophilus groenlandicus:, 2008). The black spots then converge

into a “harp-shaped” design, which is composed of two black lines that run along the dorsal side

of the seal.

Evolutionists believe that animals, plants, and humans are a result of a natural

progression known as evolution. In their minds, creation was a process of natural selection which

stemmed from tiny organisms and inorganic compounds. Evolutionists believe that pinnipeds,

including harp seals, are monophyletic (meaning that they are descended from a common

evolutionary ancestor). They believe that, over time, harp seals have evolved from one common

ancestor and adapted with things such as specialized lung or more muscled or supported airways

(Hutchings, 2006). Evolutionists believe that animals started out as tiny specks hundreds of years

ago and have been slowly evolving into their modern form. Creationists, on the other hand,

would say that God created harp seals at the beginning of the world and that they had those

adaptions when they were created. Creationists believe that God created everything on the
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planet: humans, plants, and animals. This means that creationists don’t believe that any animal,

including harp seals, have evolved over some hundred years from a tiny organism to what it is

now. Creationists believe what it says in the bible, that the universe and the numerous forms of

life on it were created by God out of nothing, including marine mammals.

The harp seal is found on or near ice floats from the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans.

They are native to Canada, Greenland, Norway, Iceland, Russia, and the United States. Due to

geographic distribution, as well as morphological and behavioral differences, scientists recognize

three distinct populations or subspecies of harp seals that have their own migratory routes. One

subspecies is largely found off the coast of Russia in the Barents Sea (Rice, 1998). Another

population lives near the east coast of Greenland and reproduces near the island of Jan Mayen.

The third lives off the east coast of Canada in Northwest Atlantic waters (Department of

Fisheries and Oceans, 2007).

Figure 2. Distribution of harp seals

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This figure illustrates the harp seal distribution in the North Atlantic Ocean. The red circles indicate the
major population areas of harp seals (Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals by William F. Perrin, Bernd Wursig, J.
G.M. Thewissen.pdf)

Harp seals are highly migratory animals that spend most of the year at sea, traveling and

feeding, whether in groups or alone. Harp seals may travel up to 5000 km in just a single year.

They spend their summer in northern feeding grounds, hunting crustaceans and small fish, as

well as some invertebrates. All three species begin to travel south toward their respective

breeding grounds around September. They spend their summer in northern feeding grounds,

hunting small fish and invertebrates. Some of the less mature harp seals remain in the north,

feeding year-round instead of breeding. Harp seals feeding habits are dependent on factors such

as age, season, location, and year. Harp seals tend to feed on small fishes such as capelin or polar

cod, as well as arctic cod and a multitude of invertebrates (Hutchings, 2006). These marine

mammals spend the majority of their time in coastal waters near pack ice. They dive for food at

depths of around 150 to 200 m (“Pagophilus groenlandicus: Harp Seal”, 2009). Harp seals have

many adaptions, including a thick layer of blubber which provides insulation for when they are

swimming in cold waters and energy that can be utilized when food is scare. Blubber also helps

harp seals streamline their bodies and reduce drag whilst in the ocean. Harp seals are also

adapted with flippers to allow for propulsion in the water and to regulate heat loss through

countercurrent heat exchangers. Harp seals are modest divers. They can dive up to 370 m deep

and be under water for a duration of about 16 minutes (Schreer and Kovacs, 1997).
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Figure 3. Diving of the harp seal

This image depicts a mother harp seal diving into the arctic ocean (https://brianskerry.com/portfolio/harp-

seals/attachment/2_22/).

Vision is the harp seal’s main sense, hence why their eyes are larger than some other

marine mammals. Harp seal hearing is also adapted so that they can hear well both above and

below water. These adaptions help the harp seals participate in underwater calling, which is the

main form of long and short distance communication in this species of pinnipeds. Harp seals

listen to individual calls and respond with a specific sound. Harp seals use this sound to attract

mates and to coordinate groups to swim (Serrano and Terhune, 2002). On land, harp seals use

clicks or chirp-like noises in order to attract mates or warn away predators form the pups.

Harp seals are piscivores and consume copious quantities of fish and crustaceans in the

environment. Harp seals are also food for many predators in the arctic region, such as polar

bears, killer whales, Greenland sharks, and walruses (Novak, 1999). Harp seals are also
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threatened by oil spills, overfishing, and climate change. Economically, Harp seals have both a

positive and a negative importance on the environment. Positively, harp seals provide meat for

some native Arctic communities. Historically, this marine mammal’s fur, oil, and meat were

incredibly important to humans. Currently, this demand has decreased due to import regulations

in the states, as well as in surrounding countries (“Pagophilus groenlandicus: Harp Seal”, 2009).

Harp seals are also an important part of the tourist industry in Canada, as tourists visit harp seal

whelping sites. Negatively, Harp seals have been blamed for the decline of certain fish schools,

which has adversely affected the fishing industry. To control this decline, the fishing industry is

trying to fight to allow more seals to be slaughtered (Schliemann, 1990). Nevertheless, as of right

now harp seals are not a threatened species due to the work of conservation groups and harsh

limitations on the killing of the species (Kovacs, 2008).

Pagophilus groenlandicus, also known as the harp seal, is a species of marine mammals,

specifically a pinniped, from the Phylum Chordata which is found in arctic regions of the world.

Harp seals are a highly migratory species that live most of their lives in the water feeding and

breeding. They have many adaptions, such as strong senses and streamline bodies and flippers

that help them thrive in their environments. Harp Seals are carnivores and they feed on many

species of fish and invertebrates. This species of seals has been hunted for its blubber and oil but

is now protected by marine activists, as well as other conservation companies, who are working

to stop the decrease in population.

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Works Cited:

Department of Fisheries and Oceans (2007). A review of ice conditions and potential impact on

harp seal neonatal mortality in March 2007. DFO Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat

Science Response 2007/2008.

“Harp Seals.” Pp. 429-430 in D Kleiman, V Geist, M McDade, eds. Grzimek’s Animal Life

Encyclopedia, Vol. Volume 14: Mammals III, Second Edition. Farmington Hills, MI:

Gale Group, Inc. 2004.

Hutchings, J. A. (2006). Ecological and fisheries sustainability: Common goals uncommonly

achieved. In “Gaining Ground: In Pursuit of Ecological Sustainability” (D. M. Lavigne,

ed.), pp. 101–112. International Fund for Animal Welfare and University of Limerick,

Guelph, Canada and Limerick, Ireland.

MarineBio.org. 2009. "Pagophilus groenlandicus: Harp Seal" (On-line). MarineBio. Accessed

April 05, 2009 at http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=302.

Kovacs, K. 2008. "Pagophilus groenlandicus" (On-line). The IUCN Red List of Threatened

Species. Accessed April 05, 2009 at http://www.iucnredlist.org/.

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Novak, R. 1999. Pagophilus groenlandicus. Pp. 887-888 in Walker’s Mammals of the World,

Vol. Volume II, Sixth Edition. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

"Pagophilus groenlandicus". OBIS Seamap. Accessed April 09, 2009

at http://seamap.env.duke.edu/species/tsn/622022. 2008.

Rice, D. W. (1998). “Marine Mammals of the World. Systematics and

Distribution.” Society for Marine Mammalogy, Special Publication

Number 4, Lawrence, Kansas, USA.

Schliemann, H. 1990. Pagophilus groenlandicus. Pp. 221-224 in S Parker, ed. Grzimek’s

Encyclopedia of Mammals, Vol. Volume 4, First Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Schreer, J. F., and Kovacs, K. M. (1997). Allometry of diving capacity in

air-breathing vertebrates. Can. J. Zool. 75, 339–358.

Serrano, A., J. Terhune. 2002. "Antimasking aspects of harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus)

underwater vocalizations" (On-line pdf). Accessed April 08, 2009

at http://scitation.aip.org.proxy.lib.umich.edu/getpdf/servlet/GetPDFServlet?filetype=pdf

&id=JASMAN000112000006003083000001&idtype=cvips&prog=normal.