The World of Harp Seals By Kyra Wu
The World of Harp Seals
Publishing By, Nature Publishing Press Published in 2014
Milwaukee-New York-Shanghai-Tokyo-Singapore-London-Hong Kong
Harp Seals
Introduction Habitat & Range Habitat ...................... p.g. 1 Range ...................... p.g. 2
Table of Contents Body Physical Features ................ p.g. 3 Molting ........................... p.g. 4 Baby Harp Seal
Diet & Hunting
Feeding .......................... p.g. 7
Diet ............................... p.g. 5
Survival ........................... p.g. 8
Hunting .......................... p.g. 6 Others Glossary .......................... p.g. 7 Citation ........................... p.g. 8
Introduction Have you ever thought about where a harp seal lives? How about what they eat? Whether it is no or yes, come and refresh your minds on these interesting creatures. They are sure to surprise you with their specialties and more.
Habitat & Range The harp seals live in a different parts of the world than other animals. There are three different populations that the harp seals live in. One of them lives on the coast of East Canada, another on the “East Ice” of eastern Russia, and the last one on the “West Ice” of eastern Greenland. They swim and dive in the North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean. Their habitat is unalike from the other seals.
Coast of East Canada
“East Ice” of eastern Russia
This is the North Atlantic Ocean
“West Ice” of eastern Greenland
Harp seals migrate regularly to different places than most seals. They need to migrate because they give birth at a certain environment and location. Each year, thousands of harp seals migrate around Baffin Island to the birthing ground. They leave the Arctic waters in the fall and begin the 2,500 km migration. The seals reach their destination from December to February. After whelping, the ice will retreat and they will start their journey back. Thus, they are special migrators.
A group of harp seals migrating toward the destination.
Body Harp seals have a body that is different from other seals. The seals’ fur is silvergray with a marking that is shaped like a harp. Adults can grow up to 2 meters long and can weigh up to 190 kilograms. They have a robust body, a small but smooth head, and a narrow snout with 8 pairs of teeth. Their front flippers have thick, powerful claws, and their hind flippers have longer, narrower claws. Their body composition makes them easily distinguishable.
A harp seals body is special and is built to be able to survive in the cold.
This baby will grow more teeth in time to start hunting.
The Harp Seals have a special molting time and order. When they are born, they have a yellowish coat from the anatomic fluids and are called “Yellow Coats”. After 2-3 days, their fur turns pure white and are called “ White Coats”. In about 12 days, they loose part of their coat and are called “Ragged Jackets”. The fur quickly grows back and now, are called “Beaters,” because their swimming behavior is not graceful yet. Soon, they have their last type of molt, and are called “Bedlamers”. This coat will stay for quite a long time. Their molting is distinctive from the other animals.
This baby seal is in the stage of molting. The coat is called “Ragged Jacket”.
Diet & Hunting This krill, shown above, is a type of euphasid.
I can hold my breath for up to 16 minutes.
The Harp Seals have a diverse diet. They are carnivorous and eat different types of fish, like polar and arctic cod, capelin, herring, halibut, small crabs, sculpin, redfish and plaice. Sometimes, they eat euphasids, amphipods, and decapods. Harp seals like to eat crabs, shrimps, octopuses, and squids. The diet of the harp seal is unique.
The shrimp, a decapod, is a type of crustacean the harp seals eat.
-DID YOU KNOW?Harp seals can dive up to 370 meters underwater.
The redfish is a type of fish that the harp seals like to eat.
Harp seals have 8 pairs of strong teeth.
Harp seals are remarkable hunters. They have great eyesight in the water, maybe even perfect! They have great eyesight because of all the light that shines into the pupils. The harp seals have sensitive whiskers that can pick up small vibrations. They grab their prey and start to chew on it. For bigger preys, the bring it up to the surface. They are truly skillful hunters.
Whiskers are a part of their hunting. Without them, it would be harder to hunt.
Baby Harp Seal Baby harp seal drinking the fatty milk from the mother.
The mom of a newborn harp seal has a jampacked schedule. The baby harp seal doesn’t have any blubber yet and is skinny for it’s size. They are only a little more than 20 lb. It gets right to it’s job to fatten up. Baby harp seals are always hungry and need to be fed every 3 hours! Nearly half of the milk that is fed is fatty. It gains about 2 kilograms per day. The moms barely get a break.
After about twelve days of feeding, the harp seals will need to survive without their mom. Their coat has not yet molted into the waterproof type and rarely go fishing. It’s a good thing that they had packed on lots of fat because they loose nearly ten kilograms in a month! When their coat grows in, they venture to the edge of the ice. Often by accident, a young seal falls through a hole in the ice. The rest of the group joins the seal and goes to catch some fish. That is their way of survival in those crucial days.
Harp
seal p up
at an ic
e hole !
Glossary Population (p.g. 1) : Inhabitants of an area
Carnivorous (p.g. 5) : Meat-eating
Migrate (p.g. 2) : Moving from one habitat to another
Amphipods (p.g. 5) : A type of crustacean
Whelping (p.g. 2) : Giving birth
Decapods (p.g. 5) : A type of crustaceans that includes shrimps.
Composition (p.g. 3) : How something is made
Euphasids (p.g. 5) : Another type of crustaceans that includes krill and prawn.
Robust (p.g. 3) : Strong and healthy
Vibration (p.g. 6) : An instance of vibrating
Molting (p.g. 4) : Shedding of fur, feather,
Blubber(p.g. 7) : Fat
Anatomic (p.g. 4) : Relating to body
Venture (p.g. 8) :Go to, adventure to etc.
Citation Page http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2012/lind_vale/habitat.htm http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/harp-seals/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harp_seal http://www.harpseals.org/about_seals/index.php http://www.seals-world.com/harp-seal.html http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/pinnipeds/harpseal.htm http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Pagophilus_groenlandicus/ http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112412/harp_seal.htm http://www.nwf.org/Kids/Ranger-Rick/Animals/Mammals/Harp-Seals.aspx Discovery Box
Lives on icy land,
friendly and cute,
harp-shaped marking!
Come and read The World of Harp Seals!
About the Author Kyra Wu was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised mostly in Shanghai, China. She has one older brother and loves almost all of the animals, especially fluffy ones. In her free time, she likes to read or listen to music.