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Fur seals are any of nine species of pinnipeds belonging to the subfamily Arctocephalinae in the family Otariidae.They are much more closely related to sea lions than true seals, and share with them external ears (), relatively long and muscular foreflippers, and the ability to walk on all fours.
The brown fur seal is the largest and most robust member of the fur seals. It has a large and broad head with a pointed snout that may be flat or turned up slightly. [ 3 ] They have external ear flaps ( pinnae ) and their whiskers ( vibrissae ) are long, possibly growing back past the pinnae, especially in adult males.
The fur seals’ habitat is naturally restricted which makes them more threatened by environmental changes. Other potential and existing threats are tourism, oil spills, and boat collisions. Oil spills would be particularly damaging to the fur seal as their thick pelage is an important part of their thermoregulation.
Arctocephalus forsteri (common names include the Australasian fur seal, [3] South Australian fur seal, [4] New Zealand fur seal, [5] Antipodean fur seal, or long-nosed fur seal) is a species of fur seal found mainly around southern Australia and New Zealand. [1]
Five pinniped species, clockwise from top left: New Zealand fur seal (Arctocephalus forsteri), southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina), Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus), walrus (Odobenus rosmarus), and grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) Combined range of all pinnipeds
Instagram user Max Payne captured footage of an Antarctic fur seal swimming in South Georgia.
Northern fur seals have extreme sexual dimorphism, with males being 30–40% longer and more than 4.5 times heavier than adult females. [1] The head is foreshortened in both sexes because of the very short, down-curved muzzle, and small nose, which extends slightly beyond the mouth in females and moderately in males.
The subantarctic fur seal is medium in size compared with other fur seals. The two sexes are strongly sexually dimorphic: males grow to 2 m and 160 kg, whereas females are substantially smaller—1.4 m and 50 kg. Subantarctic fur seals have creamy-orange chests and faces. Their bellies are more brownish.