Ordinary seal: appearance, habitat, natural enemies

Ordinary seal is one of the few inhabitants of our planet who prefer warmth to cold. Strictly speaking, that's why they can be found only in remote snow-covered regions. Because of this, scientists for a long time could not study these animals properly. And only now, when progress has moved far ahead, we have discovered their amazing life in a natural environment.

Spotted, or ordinary, seal: habitat

All representatives of this species adore the cold climate. Therefore, almost all seals live in the western and eastern regions of the Arctic Ocean. That is, their range extends to the Bering, Botfortovo and Chukchi seas. In addition, they can be found in the coastal waters of Greenland and the Barents Sea.

As for the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, here one can also meet representatives of this species. But only the colonies that live in these parts are not so numerous - the Arctic home is considered to be the native home of seals.

Species of the spotted seal

To date, the population of ordinary seals totals about 500 thousand individuals. All animals are very similar to each other, but at the same time scientists distinguish several special subspecies. By and large, such a classification is related to their habitat. However, there are some external differences between representatives of different colonies.

So, the ordinary seal is divided into the following subspecies:

• East-Atlantic - is the most common, inhabits along the coastlines of Northern Europe and Western Asia.
• The West Atlantic subspecies inhabits practically the entire eastern part of North America.
• Pacific colonies of these mammals inhabit the western part of North America.
• The ungava seal is a unique representative of this species, preferring to settle along fresh water bodies, and not in the sea.
• The island seal lives on small shreds of land, scattered across the ocean near the shores of East Asia.

Appearance

What do we know about the external features that an ordinary seal has? Photo of these animals, made in all parts of the Arctic, allowed scientists to analyze the entire species as a whole. Curious fact: almost all subspecies of the seal of the ordinary look like purebred relatives. Exceptions are only Pacific species, which are slightly larger than their counterparts in body size.

But back to the exterior. Seal color can vary throughout their life. However, most often the color of the fur varies in the limit of a rusty-gray or brown hue. In this case, dark spots are scattered throughout the body of the animal in a chaotic order. In particular, it is because of them that this species is sometimes called "spotted".

As to the sizes, on the average the ordinary seal grows up to 1,8 meters. In this case, their weight ranges from 150-165 kilograms. It should also be noted that females always have much smaller proportions than males.

Habits and habitat

An ordinary seal prefers to settle on rocky coasts along coastal waters. At the same time, he tries to avoid the open land areas, so as not to attract attention of outsiders. The curious fact is that, unlike their close relatives, the ordinary seal does not migrate. This species remains in one place for a long time and leaves it only in case of emergency.

As for the diet, in this regard, animals are real predators. They hunt mainly in the water, because this element is their home. As their prey they choose the least nimble fish: capelin, herring, navaga, saika and so on. However, if there is no similar profit nearby, seals can also eat simple invertebrates.

Reproduction of seals

At about the fifth year of life, males first show interest in the opposite sex. But females grow up much faster, they have sexual activity begins at 3 years of age. Pregnancy lasts 11 months. At the same time only one cub is born, only in very rare cases the female can tolerate a couple of babies.

On average, male seals live on the order of 25-30 years, which is quite normal for their species. "Ladies" were more fortunate, as their age limit varies between 35-40 years. Scientists can not fully understand the nature of this phenomenon, but they assume that this is due to the genital function of females.

Natural enemies of seals

Many believe that the main enemy of the ordinary seal is the polar bear. This statement is not entirely true. Despite the fact that the clumsy predator really likes to hunt for fatty mammals, only a meager proportion of these animals die from its clutches.

Where are the great danger of killer whales. These sea predators in a flash of an eye are able to catch and eat the creepy prey. In addition, only the fastest seals can slip away from the killer whales, and then, just in time ran to the shore.