Grey Seal

Grey Seal
: Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Carnivora : Phocidae : Halichoerus : grypus
Binomial name
Halichoerus grypus (Fabricius, 1791)

The Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a large seal of the family Phocidae or "true seals". It is the only species classified in the genus Halichoerus. Its name is alternatively spelled Gray seal and is also known as Atlantic Grey Seal.

In Britain the Grey Seal breeds in several colonies around the coasts; notably large colonies are at the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast (about 6,000 animals), and North Rona off the north coast of Scotland. It is the largest native British mammal, with the bulls reaching 2.5-3.3m long and weighing up to 300kg; the cows are much smaller, typically 1.6-2m long and 100-150kg weight. It is the typical seal of the northern and western coasts, the Common Seal being more often seen off southeastern coasts.

The pups are born in autumn (September to November), with a dense, soft silky white fur; at first they are small and shrivelled-looking, but they rapidly fatten up to look like over-filled barrels, from the extremely fat-rich milk they receive from their mothers. Within a month or so, they shed the pup fur and grow the dense waterproof adult fur, and soon leave for the sea to learn to fish for themselves.