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Hooded seal - CYSTOPHORA CRISTATA
Possibly Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Seal": "Seal" comes from the Old English word "seolh," for the animal.
Location: North Atlantic from the Spitzbergen Islands to Greenland and south to Nova Scotia.
Habitat: Arctic waters, often some distance from shore.
Description: The adult coat is gray with brown speckling on the back, and white spots on the underside. The young, when born, have a very beautiful coat which is bluish on the back. The name of the species is associated with the inflatable sac on the nose of the male. When fully extended this sac may be 12 inches long, and may have a circumference of seven inches. The exact function of this structure is not known. Total length is over eight feet, with weight up to 880 pounds, with the female slightly smaller.
Behavior: For most of the year this species is solitary. It forms small family groups during the reproductive period (March and April), and then large colonies in the area of the Skagerrak and Kattegat during the molting period (June and July). The hooded seal does not feed during these periods. Since they are most frequently studied then, littIe is known of their feeding habits.
Reproduction: They breed shortly after giving birth to a single pup, which nurses two to four weeks. Gestation lasts about twelve months.
Note: The pup is hunted for its hide, while the adult is hunted commercially for its flesh and fat, which are used for animal feed.
Go to the Carnivora Page to learn more about the all the meat-eating animals.
Or go to the Seal Index to study other
seals.
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