FACT SHEET #2
WhaleNet /Seal Data*
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HOODED SEALS
(Cystophora cristata)
General:
Hooded seals are marine mammals, related to other pinnipeds
like sea lions and walruses. Pinnipeds feed in the ocean, but return to
land to mate and bear young. They also will come ashore to rest or if they
are wounded or sick.
Size:
Hooded seals are the largest seals on the East Coast. Adult male
hooded seals average 9 feet and weigh up to 900 pounds. Females are
somewhat smaller, reaching lengths of 7.5 feet and often weighing more than
600 pounds.
Appearance:
Adult hooded seals have a distinctive bluish-gray coat
spattered with dark, irregular spots. The face is black, with a broad,
flattened muzzle, and their large eyes are positioned near the top of the
head. Males have a hood-like structure on top of the muzzle which can be
inflated to form a crest nearly twice the size of a football during
courting and territorial displays. Males can also inflate their nasal
septum and blow it out through the nose like a red balloon. Females have
much smaller crests; they do not have the nasal feature.
Hooded seals are powerful swimmers but they are unable to walk on land.
Instead, they use a wriggling motion to move on their bellies when on
shore. Like all true seals, they have a thick layer of blubber beneath
their skin which provides insulation, reserve energy and buoyancy.
Diet:
Hooded seals feed on redfish, Greenland halibut, squid, herring,
octopus, capelin, arctic cod, shrimp and mussels, among other things.
Habitat:
Hooded seals are common to eastern Canadian arctic and
subarctic waters, but wandering individuals have been spotted as far south
as Puerto Rico. Outside of the breeding season, which they spend on ice
floes, hooded seals frequent deep water and are known to travel great
distances. (One female hooded seal wandered as far as San Diego, CA,
traveling approximately 13,000 km through the Northwest passage.)
Historically, only a few hooded seals have been sighted in southern New
England waters. Since the late 1980s, however, these numbers have been
increasing. The change seems to be due to shifts in distribution rather
than an increase in population.
Breeding & Birth:
Hooded seals lead solitary lives for most of the
year. Pups are born on drifting ice floes off Canada at the end of
March/beginning of April. Pups average 3-1/2 feet in length and weigh 50
pounds when they are born. They are called "bluebacks" because of the
sharp delineation between their beautiful blue-gray backs and their
cream-colored undersides. Hooded seals have the shortest lactating period
of any marine mammal -- about 4 days. After lactation, the adults return
to the ocean; pups remain on the drifting ice for up to two weeks before
taking to sea on their own.
Protection:
Until the mid 1980s, the hooded seal population was hunted
for pelts by Norway, Great Britain, Canada and the USSR. Since then, the
market for seal coats has evaporated and hooded seals are much less
frequently hunted. Hooded seals have been protected in the U.S. since 1972
when Congress passed the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which prohibits the
taking of wild seals in U.S. waters except by permit. The New England
Aquarium is authorized by the National Marine Fisheries Service to care for
sick or stranded marine mammals. Approximately 6-12 hooded seals, mostly
pups, are picked up by the New England Aquarium each year.
Aquarium Experts:
Greg Early, Associate Curator of Animal Care/
Marine Mammal Rescue and Rehabilitation Program
Scott Kraus, Associate Director of Research
Maggie Mooney-Seus, Senior Conservation Associate/Policy Analyst
All inquiries should be directed to the Public Relations Office: (617)
973-5222 or 973-5213.
Website: http://www.neaq.org/
* Seal Image Source
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