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The harp seal is a fast ice breeder and is believed to have a promiscuous mating system. [18] Breeding occurs between mid-February and April. [ 17 ] Courtship peaks during mid-March and involves males performing underwater displays, using bubbles, vocalizations, and paw movements to court females. [ 19 ]
In the 1980s–1990s, takings of harp seals totaled 8,000–10,000, and annual catches of hooded seals totaled a few thousand between 1997 and 2001. [1] Norway accounts for all recent seal hunting in the West Ice, as Russia has not hunted hooded seals since 1995, and catches harp seals at the East Ice in the White Sea – Barents Sea .
In 2010 and 2011, sea ice in the Northwest Atlantic was at or near an all-time low and harp seals as well as ringed seals that bred on thin ice saw increased death rates. [ 181 ] [ 182 ] In the Antarctic, the decreased duration and extent of the sea ice and nutrient availability could potentially reduce the survival of Weddell seal pups and may ...
Harp seals are named for the harp-like pattern on the backs of adults. ... "This species is most commonly found dwelling on the ice in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, but have been known to ...
The seal had found refuge on a platform made of ice floating on water. The killer whales started by swimming side by side, which created a wave that cracked the seal's large ice platform into a ...
Among phocid seals, there is some variation of how maternal and pup behaviour takes place during lactation. Variation is dependent on access to the water, risk of predation and access to food. There are two main strategies seen in seal breeding in ice habitats. The first strategy is observed in grey seals, hooded seals and harp seals. These ...
A nearly 151-pound adult harp seal was rescued from a beach in Lavallette in February, according to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center. It was released in early April and had gained 70 pounds.
The 2010 winter was unusually warm, with little ice forming in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in February and March, when harp seals give birth to their pups on ice floes. Around the Gulf, harp seals arrived in late winter to give birth on near-shore ice and even on beaches rather than on their usual whelping grounds: sturdy sea ice.