Quick Take
- Grey seals have a scientific name that translates to something surprisingly insulting, which perfectly captures their most distinctive feature. See the insulting translation →
- On land they move like caterpillars, but underwater grey seals become something else entirely. Their senses tell the whole story. Land vs. sea adaptations →
- A grey seal mother abandons her pup at six weeks old, but her actions during those six weeks are what actually ensures its survival. Six weeks of nursing →
- Orcas have a specific trick they use to hunt grey seals resting on ice, and the method is more calculated than you'd expect. How orcas hunt seals →
The grey seal is one of the rarer species of seal alive today. They can adapt to life on a coastline but go to the ocean when hunting for food. These seals can live for 25 to 35 years. The big, curved nose of grey seals has earned them the name the horseheads of the sea.
Grey Seal Top Facts
- Staying warm in the sea: A grey seal has two heavy layers of fur and one layer of blubber that combine to keep it warm in the cold ocean water.
- A big animal: An adult male grey seal can weigh 880 pounds.
- Expert hunters: Grey seals can see and hear better underwater than they can on land. This helps them to find their prey in the ocean waters.
- Talking seal talk: These seals communicate with one another through hoots, cries, growls, and hisses, and they also flap their flippers — seals have their own language!
Classification and Scientific Name
The common name for this marine mammal is grey seal. Its scientific name is Halichoerus grypus. Halichoerus grypus is Latin for hook-nosed sea pig. The grey seal classification for family is Phocidae, and its class is Mammalia.
There are subspecies of this seal found on the western Atlantic coast and the eastern Atlantic coast, as well as the coast of the Baltic Sea.
Appearance and Behavior
A male grey seal has silver-colored spots scattered over its thick, dark gray fur. Females have silver-colored fur with dark spots throughout. Both males and females have short flippers that are perfect for helping them swim through the ocean waters but make them look like caterpillars while moving on land.
Male seals are around 10 feet long and can weigh up to 880 pounds. So, if you stood an adult male seal up on its back flippers, it would be half the height of an adult giraffe. Plus, an adult seal at 880 pounds weighs a little less than an adult Arabian horse. Females are around 7½ feet long and weigh in at 550 pounds. A female seal is about half the weight of a grand piano.
The body of a grey seal is designed to help it survive on land and in the sea. It has two webbed front flippers featuring five claws on each of them. Its rear flippers help it move through the water and change direction. The strength in a seal’s shoulders allows it to push itself up out of the water onto slippery rocks even when the waves are crashing behind it.
The long nose of a grey seal has earned it its scientific name of hook-nosed pig of the sea. They are also called horseheads due to their long noses. A male seal’s nose is generally longer than a female’s. This seal has large eyes, whiskers like a cat, and pointed teeth. This combination of features — large eyes, whiskers, and pointed teeth — is one of the main differences between grey seals and harbor seals, a close relative.
Seals are able to close their ears and their nostrils. This allows them to spend long periods of time in the ocean water looking for prey or traveling to their next destination.
A group of seals is sometimes called a herd or colony. These seals live in large groups during the breeding season and travel in smaller groups during the rest of the year. The largest colony on record is located on Sable Island near Nova Scotia and contains more than 300,000 grey seals that travel there to breed.
Grey seals are curious and playful, but they can be aggressive if threatened. They will use their sharp teeth to bite at predators or strike them with their flippers. Though grey seal pups can look cute and cuddly like puppies, they can also be aggressive if threatened.
Habitat
These seals make their home on many coasts throughout the world. Some live on the coasts of eastern Canada down to New England shorelines. Other grey seals live on coasts of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Faroe Islands, Norway, Iceland, and in northwestern Russia. There is also a smaller group of grey seals living on the coast of the Baltic Sea.
Grey seals live on coastlines, but the specific terrain can vary in different areas. These seals inhabit coastlines with rocky terrain, icebergs, sandbars, and islands. Their thick fur protects them from the cold, sometimes Arctic temperatures in which they live.
Harbor seals have been seen living in the same area as grey seals. These two seals share many of the same characteristics and are certainly similar in appearance.
Diet
What do grey seals eat?
Scientists have found that grey seals eat at least 29 species of fish, including mackerel, squid, cod, capelin, sand eels, and herring. They typically dive to depths of less than about 418 feet to hunt for fish, but they can dive as deep as 1,560 feet if necessary. Seals need to eat about four to six percent of their body weight each day, but they fast during the breeding season.
Predators and Threats
Though grey seals can swim at speeds up to 23 mph, they still have predators in the ocean. Orcas (also known as killer whales) and sharks have been known to prey on these seals. A group of orcas may approach a grey seal resting on an ice floe and create a wave, quickly tipping the seal into the water.
Humans are a threat to these seals as well. Chemicals such as oil and gas dumped into the ocean enter fish that serve as a food source for grey seals. When the seals eat the fish, they take in these chemicals, and it can result in health problems. Also, they can get tangled up in fishing nets or trawls attached to boats. If this happens, they may not be able to escape to the surface to breathe.
Of course, a person is at risk when approaching a grey seal to feed it. Like any animal, a seal’s reaction can be unpredictable. In addition, feeding grey seals makes them more likely to look to humans for food. This puts them at risk for being mistreated or fed items that will make them sick. Plus, they may venture too close to boats to get food and suffer injury as a result.
A grey seal is one of many marine animals protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. There’s been a decrease in commercial hunting for grey seals, giving them a conservation status of Least Concern, which means they are not considered to be a threatened animal. Their population is also reported to be increasing.
Reproduction, Babies, and Lifespan
Mating
A male grey seal, called a bull, fights other males when looking for a female, or cow, during breeding season. Males are often injured and take on scars during this season of the year. Males and females mate with several different partners throughout their lives.
The gestation period of a grey seal is approximately 11.5 months. A harbor seal has a gestation period of about the same length. A female grey seal living on the Baltic coast will usually give birth in March, while a female living on the western Atlantic coast gives birth anywhere from December to February. Females on the eastern coast of the Atlantic give birth somewhere between September and November.
A grey seal gives live birth to one baby or pup. A newborn pup weighs around 35 pounds, or about the weight of two and a half bowling balls!
Babies
A seal pup nurses for about three weeks, receiving high-fat milk from its mother to develop a thick layer of blubber. A baby seal is born with a coat of white fur designed to absorb heat and keep it warm while it develops blubber. At the pup’s fourth week of life, its mother weans it. The mother seal forages for small fish to give to the pup but does not eat anything herself during this period. A grey seal pup has a unique cry that lets its mom know where it is on a crowded beach. Some scientists say this cry sounds like a human baby’s cry.
As the seal pup turns six weeks old, the mother leaves it to survive on its own. A healthy six-week-old pup will stay with the herd a couple more weeks, then begin to hunt on its own in the ocean.
Lifespan
A male grey seal’s lifespan can be up to 25 years, while a female can live up to 35 years. Of course, the threat of fishing nets, water pollution, and natural predators factor into the lifespan of a grey seal. The oldest grey seal lived to be 46 years old in the wild.
Population
The population of the grey seal is increasing. Its conservation status is Least Concern, so it is not recognized as a threatened animal according to its population totals. There are approximately 150,000 grey seals on the western Atlantic coasts, while 130,000 to 140,000 grey seals populate the eastern Atlantic coasts. The Baltic coast has a population of about 7,500 seals.
Grey Seal Pictures
View all of our Grey Seal pictures in the gallery.
Sources
- David Burnie, Dorling Kindersley Animal, The Definitive Visual Guide To The World's Wildlife / Accessed December 12, 2008
- Tom Jackson, Lorenz Books The World Encyclopedia Of Animals / Accessed December 12, 2008
- David Burnie, Kingfisher The Kingfisher Animal Encyclopedia / Accessed December 12, 2008
- Richard Mackay, University of California Press The Atlas Of Endangered Species / Accessed December 12, 2008
- David Burnie, Dorling Kindersley Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Animals / Accessed December 12, 2008
- Dorling Kindersley Dorling Kindersley Encyclopedia Of Animals / Accessed December 12, 2008
- David W. Macdonald, Oxford University Press The Encyclopedia Of Mammals / Accessed December 12, 2008
