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The gray seal has another name - long-mouthed. These are large marine mammals. The name of the species in Latin sounds like Halichoerus grypus. Consider the main characteristics of these amazing and pretty representatives of the animal world. Where do they live? What do they look like? What do they eat?
Description
The body length of the animal is 2.1-2.5 m. Some individuals grow up to 3 m. Weight - 160-300 kg. The body is massive, the front of the head is long. The lips are dense, have wavy edges.
Coloring of long-faced seals can be different. It depends on the sex of the animal and the area where they live. Males and females also differ in color. As a rule, the main body color is gray. On the back, the color is slightly darker than on the stomach. Dark spots of various shapes and sizes are visible throughout the body. They are lighter on the back, and darker on the belly.
Habitat
There are also in the western part of the Atlantic. This is the Isle of Man, Sable Island, etc. You can meet the long-mouthed seal off the coast of Greenland (on the south side).
There are 2 subspecies of gray seals: the Baltic (live in the Baltic Sea), as well as the Atlantic (European waters and the western Atlantic). Gray seals do not migrate long distances, and are considered relatively settled. Representatives of the Baltic population during the breeding season (in December), move to the north of the sea, where they gather on the ice. In the spring, they gradually settle in their habitats.
Food
The basis of the diet of gray seals is fish. Very rarely and little by little they can also use invertebrates. They can eat shrimp and squid. Individuals living in the Baltic Sea prefer cod, bream, and herring. Individuals living off the Murmansk coast consume pinagoras and cod.
Populations living in European waters love to eat flounder, cod, herring.
Breeding
Representatives of this species have a difference in breeding time. This behavior is not typical for pinnipeds. At different times, offspring produce not only seals that belong to different populations, but also those that live in the same territory.
In Baltic seals, offspring appears earlier than the rest. As already mentioned, for this period they gather on the ice of the northern part of the sea. In most of them, babies are born at the very end of winter or early March. All other seals breed on land. They begin this process later in comparison with the Baltic inhabitants, but the breeding time for different individuals is significantly different. For example, individuals living on the Murmansk coast bring offspring in November-December. Those living in the northeast of Great Britain are from October to December. Inhabitants of other areas can give birth to babies even in August or September.
Pregnancy lasts 11 months or a little longer. But since this species is characterized by delayed implantation, from 11 months the fetus develops only within 9 months. Newborn gray seals weigh about 16-20 kg. The length of the body is about 1 m. Their body is covered with light thick hair. In the future, it changes to hard.
During feeding, the babies develop very intensively. The female feeds them 3 weeks. Their mass is approximately doubled, the body is extended by 20 cm. Further, growth is significantly slowed down. At the age of 2 years, a seal can weigh 55-60 kg. Gradually, the weight grows, and by the age of 5 years they can grow up to 75-100 kg. Females reach sexual maturity at 5-6 years. In males, this happens at the age of 7, but they begin to participate in reproduction only after 3 years.
Females continue to grow and develop until 10 years old, and males to about 15. Some males continue to grow even longer. Adult males are approximately 35 cm longer.
Females can produce offspring for many years. Sometimes they can give birth to babies up to 30 years and later. In males, this ability disappears at about the age of 20 years.
The oldest individuals that were found in nature are male, age 25, and female, age 35. But in captivity, these animals can live longer. In one of the zoos, the female lived for 28 years. The male in captivity lived up to 41 years.
Behavior
Depending on the habitat, representatives of the species differ in their behavior and lifestyle features. The territory of St. Lawrence Bay, as well as the Baltic Sea basin, is the so-called ice ecological form. During the breeding season, they live on coastal ice.
Individuals living in all other places at certain times of the year form deposits along the coast. They choose small islands and other areas that are difficult to reach. These places usually have a flat surface, and their descent is gentle, by which animals can descend into the water.
Representatives of the species are prone to herd behavior. This is especially noticeable during the breeding season. Gray seals can be either monogamous or polygamous. The first form of relationship is characteristic of true seals. The second for representatives of the family is almost not characteristic. Among all species belonging to the family, it is observed only in marine elephants.
Polygamy manifests itself exclusively in deposits. There, the male forms a “harem", usually consisting of 2-5 females.
Number
In total, about 45,000 long-mouthed seals lived on the eastern side of the Atlantic (with the exception of the Baltic Sea basin).
In the western part of the range, the number of species is much less. About 5,000 animals inhabited these territories. At the beginning of the 70s, there were approximately 52-60 thousand representatives of the species all over the world.
Economic value
Since the total number of animals is relatively small, they are not of great economic importance to humans. Earlier premiums were paid for the slaughter of these animals, as they ate large quantities of fish stocks. They were hunted by fishermen from Sweden and Finland. But from the Baltic Sea for a year they did not catch more than 1000 individuals. The slaughter of long muzzle seals was later banned. In other territories, production is even less.
Video: gray seal (Halichoerus grypus)
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