Phoca Largha (Pallas, 1811)
Phoca Largha (Pallas, 1811)
Phoca Largha (Pallas, 1811)
LATERAL VIEW
Can be confused with: In addition to harbour seals (p. 258), 2 other phocids (ringed [p. 262] and ribbon
[p. 270] seals) share the the Larga seal’s range. Details of pelage markings and coloration, particularly the
presence or absence of large numbers of rings (ringed seals), or conspicuous light and dark bands (ribbon
seals) are sufficient to distinguish among them.. Further, ringed seals are generally solitary beside breathing
holes, while Larga and ringed seals are most often found along fractures in larger floes. Of these species,
only the ribbon seal moves on ice or land by slashing motion; the others inch along.
Size: Adult males are up to 1.7 m and females to 1.6 m long. Adults weigh 82 to 123 kg. At birth, Larga
seals are 77 to 92 cm long and weigh 7 to 12 kg.
Geographical Distribution: Larga seals are widespread in the Sea of Okhotsk, and Yellow, Japan, and
Bering seas. They inhabit the southern edges of the pack ice from winter to early summer and coastal areas,
including river mouths, in late summer and autumn. They breed exclusively, and haul out regularly, on ice,
but do come ashore on beaches and sand-bars.
Fig. 525
Biology and Behaviour: Larga seals are annually monogamous and territorial. Breeding takes place on
pack ice from January to mid-April. Pupping peaks from mid to late March.
Adults can dive to at least 300 m, and they feed on a wide variety of organisms: composition of diet varies
with the age of the seal. Newly weaned pups feed on small crustaceans, advance to schooling fishes, larger
crustaceans, and octopuses, and finally graduate to bottom dwelling fish and cephalopods.
Exploitation: Small commercial and subsistence harvests of Larga seals have been active throughout this
century, and continue to this day. An unknown number are incidentally caught in drift and gill net fishing
operations every year.
IUCN Status: Insufficiently known.
262 Marine Mammals of the World
Can be confused with: Ringed seals share their extensive range with 7 other phocids. They are not likely
to be confused with bearded, harp, hooded, or ribbon seals, but care may be required to positively distinguish
them from other seals with rings, spots or spot-like markings (harbour [p. 258], Larga [p. 260], juvenile harp
[p. 268], and grey [p. 272] seals). Differentiation requires attention to the size, coarseness, distribution (both
above and below), and abundance of such markings. Also, note head and muzzle size, body length, and
plumpness and length of the neck in relation to the body length.
Size: Adults are up to about 1.65 m in lenth. Weight is 50 to 110 kg. Pups average about 60 to 65 cm and
4 to 5 kg at birth.
Geographical Distribution: Ringed seals have a circumpolar distribution throughout the Arctic basin,
Hudson Bay and Strait, and the Bering and Baltic seas. There are 5 recognized subspecies: P. h. hispida,
in the Arctic basin; P. h. ochotensis, in the Seas of Okhotsk and Japan; P. h. saimensis, in Lake Saimaa; P. h.
lagodensis, in Lake Ladoga; and P. h. botnica, in the Baltic Sea. The distribution of ringed seals is strongly
correlated with pack and land-fast ice, and areas covered at least seasonally by ice.
Fig. 528
Biology and Behaviour: Nearly all ringed seals breed on the fast ice, where females excavate lairs in
pressure ridges and other snow-covered features. These allow access to the water, but are hidden from
polar bears. Pupping generally occurs in March-April, earlier in the Baltic Sea. Males are thought to be
territorial, and possibly annually monogamous.
Many adults remain in the same localized areas year-round. Out of water, ringed seals are generally wary,
regularly scanning for predators, such as polar bears and humans.
Ringed seals consume a wide variety of small prey, including many species of fishes and planktonic
crustaceans, taken throughout the water column. They forage either singly or in small groups.
Exploitation: Ringed seals have been a mainstay in the diet of native Arctic peoples. The seals are
consumed by people and fed to sled dogs, and their skins are used for clothing. Subsistence hunting
continues today, and accounts for an unknown, but probably significant number of seals every year.
Commercial sealing primarily for pelts has been wide-spread. Pollution in some localities, such as the Baltic
Sea, is of great concern and may be the reason for local population declines. The status of the current
worldwide population is variable, depending on location, with numbers in some areas increasing and
decreasing in others.
IUCN Status: Insufficiently known; endangered (P. h. saimensis only); vulnerable (P. h. botnica and P. h.
lagodensis only).
264 Marine Mammals of the World
VENTRAL VIEW
MANDIBLE
Can be confused with: There should be no confusion: the Baikal seal does not share its range with any
other pinniped species.
Size: Measurements of Baikal seals have been taken as curvilinear lengths, which yield longer measure-
ments than the standard lengths used for other species. Adult Baikal seals have been reported to reach
approximately 1.4 m and 80 to 90 kg. Newborn pups are 64 to 66 cm in length and 4 to 4.2 kg in weight.
Geographical Distribution: Baikal seals are entirely confined to Lake Baikal and its feeder streams in
eastern Russia.
Fig. 531
Biology and Behaviour: Baikal seals are similar to ringed seals in most respects. They maintain breathing
and access holes in ice (the number varying by age and sex, to 11 in adult males) and use snow-covered
lairs on the lake ice. Some seals share haul-out holes, but most animals are solitary. Pupping occurs from
mid-February to the end of March. Newly weaned pups emerge from the lairs in April.
Baikal seals experimentally equipped with tracking instruments generally dived for 10 to 20 minutes, to depths
of 50 to 200 m; the deepest dives were to 300 m. Their diet consists primarily of many varieties of freshwater
fishes.
Exploitation: Baikal seals have been hunted since prehistoric times, and there has been a long history of
commercial exploitation that continues to the present for meat and skins, with carcass remains going to feed
domestic animals. There are government quotas, but poaching is common. Seals hauled out are frequently
disturbed by human activities, and there was a recent outbreak of a virus causing symptoms like canine
distemper.
IUCN Status: Insufficiently known.
266 Marine Mammals of the World
FAO Names: En - Caspian seal; Fr - Phoque de la Mer Caspienne; Sp - Foca del Caspio .
VENTRAL VIEW
LATERAL VIEW
WITH MANDIBLE
Can be confused with: No other pinniped occurs in the Caspian Sea region, and this species occurs
nowhere else in the world.
Size: Adult males and females reach maximum lengths of 1.5 and 1.4 m, respectively, and weigh around
86 kg. Pups are 64 to 79 cm and about 5 kg at birth.
Geographical Distribution: Caspian seals are entirely confined to the saline waters of the Caspian Sea
and its feeder rivers, which are bordered by several of the states of the new Russian Commonwealth and
Iran. Seasonal movements in the Caspian Sea are prompted by ice formation. Seals occupy the north-
eastern quadrant in autumn, but in spring and summer they move south into the deeper and cooler regions
of the Caspian Sea.
Fig. 534
Biology and Behaviour: The pupping season lasts from late January to early February. Unlike the ringed.
seal or Baikal seal, Caspian seal pups are born out on the open ice. Mating occurs from late February to
mid-March. There is little information on behaviour of this little-known seal.
Caspian seals take a variety of fishes and small crustaceans; the diet varies seasonally.
Exploitation: Caspian seals have undoubtedly been hunted since prehistoric times. Alarge scale commer-
cial harvest since the 19th Century continues to this day under government regulated quotas.
IUCN Status: Vulnerable.
268 Marine Mammals of the World
Can be confused with: Harp seals in adult pelage are unlikely to be confused with any other animal. The
silvery white body, emblazoned with a conspicuous black harp pattern and hood, is unique. However, the
‘bedlamer” and “spotted harp” patterns are more generic, and pose some difficulties. To distinguish harp
seals from the 5 other phocids that share their range (harbour [p. 258], ringed [p. 262], gray [p. 272], bearded
[p. 274], and hooded [p. 276] seals), note overall body size; size and shape of the head, muzzle, and nose;
details of pelage markings (e.g.,spots, rings, or blotches); and base colour (uniform or contrasting from top
to bottom).
Size: Adult males are up to 1.9 m in length and average 135 kg in weight, females up to 1.8 m and 120 kg.
Pups are born at about 85 cm and almost 10 kg.
Geographical Distribution:Harp seals are widespread in the the Arctic and North Atlantic oceans and
adjacent areas from Hudson Bay and Baffin Island east to Cape Chelyuskin, in northern Russia. The most
famous of the 3 population centres is the “Front,” near the Magdalen Islands and waters off northeastern
Newfoundland and southern Labrador. Harp seals live chiefly in pack ice, but can be found away from it in
summer.
Fig. 537
Biology and Behaviour : Harp seals congregate to whelp (pup) on pack ice, where they form huge
concentrations. Pups are born from late February to mid-March. Mating occurs in the water from mid to late
March.
Harp seals are migratory, breeding at the southern edge of the pack ice in late winter, moulting nearby in
spring, and following the ice north in summer to the high Arctic. They are very active in the water and
sometimes travel in tight groups that are quite large and noisy.
Harp seals feed on a variety of crustaceans and open-water fishes during migration, and switch to several
varieties of bottom dwelling fishes in summer on the northern grounds.
Exploitation: Harp seals have been hunted since the earliest times by people inhabiting arctic and subarctic
areas. They have been the object of commercial harvesting, principally on the whelping grounds, for fur and
oil, dating back to the late 18th Century. In particular, harp seal pups have been clubbed in large numbers
for their white coats. This controversial industry continues today on a greatly reduced scale under
international quotas.
IUCN Status: Insufficiently known.