Harbor Seal and Spotted Seal

Dental and Temporomandibular Joint Pathology of the Eastern Pacific Harbour Seal (Phoca vitulina richardii)

“…A very short suckling period of 4e6 weeks, followed by the mother's sudden desertion, leaves the pup with a need for a fully functional set of teeth shortly after birth (Burns, 2002). A lengthy period of change to permanent dentition would interfere with the pup's necessity to rapidly adjust to the adult feeding pattern and would render it unable to fend for itself (Meyer and Matzke, 2004).…”

“…Within this species, the range of the Eastern Pacific harbour seal (Phoca vitulina richardii), stretches from Baja California, Mexico, northward to the Gulf of Alaska (Burns, 2002). During the mid-1990s there were estimated to be more than 200,000 Eastern Pacific harbour seals (Burns, 2002).…”

“…The female harbour seal achieves sexual maturity at 3 to 4 years of age and physical maturity at 6 to 7 years of age. Males reach sexual maturity by 4 to 5 years of age and physical maturity by 7 to 9 years of age (Burns, 2002). Harbour seals can reach the age of 35 years, although only a few animals become that age in the wild (Burns, 2002).…”

“…The harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) has the broadest distribution of any pinniped species (Burns, 2002). Within this species, the range of the Eastern Pacific harbour seal (Phoca vitulina richardii), stretches from Baja California, Mexico, northward to the Gulf of Alaska (Burns, 2002).…”

A new method to evaluate the nutritional composition of marine mammal diets from scats applied to harbor seals in the Gulf of Alaska

“…A dominant theory for the decline of pinnipeds is that a dietary shift from high-quality prey to nutritionally-inferior prey led to nutritional stress that contributed to population declines (Alverson, 1992;Trites and Donnelly, 2003). Harbor seals employ central-place foraging strategies around haul-out locations during early and late summer when they spend time ashore while pupping and molting (Burns, 2009;Thompson et al, 1989). Prey available to seals may be restricted by the seals' diminished ability to take extended foraging trips to foraging grounds due to this seasonal tie to rookies (Boness et al, 2006;Burns, 2009;Coltman et al, 1997;Thompson et al, 1994).…”