Seal (Harp)
Harp seal: Phoca groenlandica
Distribution: from the Gulf of St. Lawrence and across the Arctic to Siberia.
Habitat: in coastal waters or on pack ice.
Size: length : male, 171 - 190cm.
Weight: 120 - 135kg.
Life-span: up to 30 years.
Food: various species of fish. Young eat crabs.
Number of young: 1
Sexual Maturity: females, up to 7 years; males, 4 years.
Gestation: 225 days, but twelve months in total because of delayed implantation.
Life-span: up to 30 years.
Food: various species of fish. Young eat crabs.
Harp Seal Habits
Daily life. Unlike sea lions and eared seals which use their fore flippers for propulsion, harp seals use their hind flippers in a side-to-side action to propel themselves through the water. They are born with white fur, but this darkens in adulthood, and they develop irregular black patches on their backs. These patches are often harp-shaped, which is how the seal gets its name.
Their lives are governed by the movements of pack ice throughout the year. There are three distinct populations, one in the seas around Jan Mayen, one around Novaya Zemlya and one around the coasts of Labrador and Newfoundland. All these populations migrate south before the spring breeding season.
They travel in groups of ten or more, but these groups are often parts of a much larger herd, which dives, leaps and swims in unison. In May, after breeding and moulting, they head back to their northern feeding grounds.
Food and feeding. Harp seals have good eyesight, which is very useful in the dimly lit Arctic waters. They also use their sharp ears and sensitive whiskers, which can sense vibrations in the water caused by the swimming action of their prey. Fish such as capelin, herring and cod make up most of an adult seal's diet. They are able to dive to depths of 150-200m in search of prey. Once caught, small fish are eaten whole underwater, but for larger catches, the harp seal will swim to the surface before eating.
Breeding. Takes place between February and April. Pregnant cows and juveniles reach the breeding grounds in early February, and each cow picks a sheltered spot on the ice for the birth. She then defends this site from other females.
The pup is born at the end of winter, weighing 12kg, unable to swim, but with a wonderful coat of white fur. It feeds on its mother's very rich milk for just two weeks.
Suckling is brief because the mother cannot feed while she is suckling, and pups are in danger from polar bears until they are able to swim. Just before the pup is weaned, its mother will be mated by a bull seal. After it is weaned, the pup stays on the ice for about two weeks to moult its baby fur. It does not feed during this time and so loses some weight. When it does take to the water, it fends for itself immediately, catching mainly crabs.
The harp seal and human
Threats to the harp seal. Just 150 years ago there were 9-10 million harp seals in Arctic waters. Numbers shrank to around three million, because pups were killed in vast numbers by fishermen and hunters, who claimed that the seals were depleting fish stocks. The skins from the pups were sold to the fur trade and made into coats and other clothing.
In the eighties and early nineties, pressure from environmental groups led to a ban on seal hunting, and a recovery in the seal population, with numbers now at a level of between 4.8 and 5.4 million according to Canadian estimates.
Since 1995, Canada's stated aim has been a 'sustainable harvest' of seals from the Newfoundland population, and Canadian Fisheries Minister, the Hon. David Anderson has decided that this year's Total Annual Catch (TAC) should be maintained at last year's level of 275,000 seals killed.
This is a highly contentious issue, with more than 20 Canadian conservation groups lobbying for a reduction in the TAC, whilst the Canadian Sealers' Association asked for a 10% increase, and research by Dr George Winters suggests that a one-time cull of 2 million seals would reduce the population to between 3.5 and 4 million - a population which he claims could sustain an annual cull of 275,000. Alternatively, he suggests an annual cull of 400,000 seals.
Both sides agree that more seals are killed than are actually accounted for, but for the fishermen, this is an argument for an increase in the TAC, and for the environmentalists it's a good reason for reducing the TAC.
Fishermen estimate that each seal consumes about $5.75 worth of fish every day. With a population of around 5 million seals, that's nearly $10.5 billion per year, so it's easy to see why Newfoundland's fishermen regard seals as enemies. Indeed, Newfoundland's cod fishermen have been banned from fishing for cod since 1992, but then their overexploitation of the cod stocks didn't help the falling cod population either.
Methods used for killing seals - generally a club or baseball bat to the head - are particularly unpleasant. Sealers argue that it's their best option. Firing a rifle scares seals, and makes them enter the safety of the water, whereas sunbathing seals will remain basking even as others around them are being clubbed to death. Hunters would like to use .45 - calibre automatic pistols with silencers fitted, arguing that this would result in many more 'clean' kills - about 99% instead of 92% - but these are not permitted by Canadian gun laws.
It's clear that there will be a problem with harp seals and humans coexisting in the same environment. Seals are (in the eyes of the fishermen) denying men their livelihoods, and if the seal population became too large, there would not be enough fish even to feed the seals, let alone serve the needs of human fishermen.
Issues are complex, and there are several sides to the argument. For the present, maintaining the permitted TAC at its current level seems like the sensible option. However, the situation needs careful monitoring, and any significant fall in the seal population needs to be reacted to quickly and forcibly by the Canadian Government.
