Harp seals spend relatively little time on land and prefer to swim in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. These sleek swimmers cruise the chilly waters and feed on fish and crustaceans.

Harp seals are the victims of the largest or second largest slaughter of marine mammals in the world: the Canadian seal hunt. The other large slaughter of marine mammals is the Cape fur seal massacre in Namibia. Tens of thousands of seal pups are killed each year in Canada and Namibia. Harpseals.org is a non-profit charity working to end these seal slaughters.

The harp seal is a true seal that lives in the north Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, spending long periods of time associated with sea ice. This species gets its common name from the harp-shaped markings on the back of the otherwise darkly colored adults. Young pups are solid white.

Harp seals spend most of their time diving and swimming in the icy waters of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. These sleek swimmers often hunt for fish and crustaceans at 300 feet (90 meters) and may dive to nearly 1,000 feet (300 meters). They are able to remain submerged for up to 15 minutes. During mating season, females form large colonies on floating ice and give birth …

Harp seals are prey for orcas, Greenland sharks, and Polar Bears. Seven super harp seal facts. Harp seals are sometimes called “saddlebacks” due to the saddle-shaped markings on their backs. Mother harp seals can identify their own young out of the thousands of other pups in a colony by their scent.

The Harp seal is a sea mammal of the fin-footed animal group and the Phocidae family (true seals with no external ears). The adult male has an irregular horseshoe-shaped black band across its back. This ‘harp’ joins across the shoulders and curves toward the abdomen, then goes back up toward the hind flippers, where it disappears.

The Harp Seal is an aquatic mammal belonging to the Suborder Pinnipedia (fin-footed animals) and the Family Phocidae (true seals lacking external ears) that is found in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Harp Seals are separated into 3 populations based on where they breed, the White Sea, the West Ice and the Northwest Atlantic `Gulf’ and `Front’ populations, of which the …