Animal · Germany, Netherlands, Denmark
Harbour seal
Phoca vitulina — the name this animal has in the language scientists everywhere share.
The harbour seal is one of the most widespread seals, resting on rocky shores, sandbanks and ice along coasts throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Its spotted grey coat helps it blend into the shoreline.
Picture credit: Charles J. Sharp (CC BY-SA 4.0) · AWeith (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Mrkoww (CC BY 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where does the harbour seal live?
Home: Coastal waters of the Northern Hemisphere.
In the wild you find it in: Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, United Kingdom, United States, Canada.
Conservation status from the IUCN: not in danger.
The short profile
Fully grown it measures 1.2–2 m long. It weighs about 85 kilograms. On the menu: meat.
The story behind it
Harbour seals spend about half their time in the water and half hauled out on land, where they rest, warm up and give birth, often in large groups on sandbanks that disappear and reappear with the tide. Remarkably, harbour seal pups can swim and dive within hours of being born, sometimes even before their mother has fully finished giving birth. Underwater, harbour seals can hold their breath for up to 30 minutes and dive to around 500 metres while hunting fish, squid and shellfish, using their sensitive whiskers to detect the wake left behind by swimming prey, even in murky or dark water. They are usually shy of humans and quick to slip into the water at the first sign of disturbance. Harbour seal populations are generally stable, though local groups face threats from pollution and disease.
Find it on the globe
Harbour seal is there as a tiny animated figure that breathes and looks around. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.
It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.
Questions children ask
How long can harbour seals hold their breath?
Harbour seals can hold their breath for up to 30 minutes underwater, letting them dive to depths of around 500 metres while hunting fish and shellfish along the seafloor.
Can baby seals swim right away?
Yes, harbour seal pups can swim and dive within just a few hours of being born, much sooner than most mammals. This early ability helps them escape danger and follow their mother in the water quickly.
How do seals find food in dark water?
Harbour seals use their long, sensitive whiskers to detect tiny changes in the water caused by a swimming fish, almost like following an invisible trail. This lets them hunt successfully even in murky or pitch-black water.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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