CreatureData

Harbor seal

Phoca vitulina Linnaeus, 1758

LCLeast Concernmammals

The harbor seal (Phoca vitulina), also called the Common seal or Harbour seal, is a mammal of the family Phocidae in the order Carnivora. It is a large, marine, diurnal piscivore with an adult body mass of 100 kg.

Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina)
Photo: Andreas Trepte · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the harbor seal

The harbor seal is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.

Weight
94.3 kg – 100 kgsrc for Weight
Length
up to 1.85 msrc for Length
Lifespan
40 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Piscivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
47.6 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
coastal, marine, rockysrc for Habitat
Gestation
254 days – 350 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
1src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
3.97 yearssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Active
By day (diurnal)src for Active
Lifestyle
Marinesrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Photos of the harbor seal

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina)
Jakub Hałun · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina)
Jakub Hałun · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina)
Jakub Hałun · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina)
Giles Laurent · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina)
Giles Laurent · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina)
Giles Laurent · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina)
Romaniviatores · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina)
Greg Schechter from San Francisco, USA · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina)
LufkinF · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the harbor seal live?

Not recorded

What is the harbor seal?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The harbor (or harbour) seal (Phoca vitulina), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared seals, and true seals), they are found in coastal waters of the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans, Baltic and North seas.

Harbor seals are brown, silvery white, tan, and sometimes grey, depending on where they are from with distinctive V-shaped nostrils. An adult can attain a length of 1.85 m (6.1 ft) and weigh up to 168 kg (370 lb). Blubber under the seal's skin helps to maintain body temperature. Females outlive males (30–35 years versus 20–25 years). Harbor seals stick to familiar resting spots or haulout sites, generally rocky areas (although ice, sand, and mud may also be used) where they are protected from adverse weather conditions and predation, near a foraging area. Males may fight over mates under water and on land. Females bear a single pup after a nine-month gestation, which they care for alone. Pups can weigh up to 16 kg (35 lb) and are able to swim and dive within hours of birth. They develop quickly on their mothers' fat-rich milk, and are weaned after four to six weeks.

The global population of harbor seals is 350,000–500,000, but the freshwater subspecies Ungava seal in Northern Quebec is endangered. Once a common practice, sealing is now illegal in many nations within the animal's range.

From the Wikipedia article “Harbor seal” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Harbor_seal&oldid=1381041035), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

What does the harbor seal sound like?

Beeld en Geluid · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Beeld en Geluid · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Is the harbor seal endangered?

The harbor seal is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the harbor seal classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderCarnivora
  5. familyPhocidae
  6. genusPhoca
  7. SpeciesPhoca vitulina Linnaeus, 1758
Other names and names in other languages (48)
  • Atlantic harbor sealEnglish
  • Common sealEnglish
  • Common sealEnglish
  • Common sealEnglish
  • Common seal, harbour sealEnglish
  • Eastern Atlantic harbour sealEnglish
  • Harbour sealEnglish
  • Harbour sealEnglish
  • Обикновен тюленBulgarian
  • obiknoven tyulenBulgarian
  • morlo cyffredinWelsh
  • Morloi CyffredinWelsh
  • spættet sælDanish
  • SeehundGerman
  • Φώκια των λιμανιώνGreek
  • Foca comúnSpanish
  • foca moteadaSpanish
  • kirjohyljeFinnish
  • phoque communFrench
  • phoque veau marinFrench
  • phoque veau-marinFrench
  • rònScottish Gaelic
  • ròinScottish Gaelic
  • ròin chumantaScottish Gaelic
  • ròin-chalaidhScottish Gaelic
  • ròn calaidhScottish Gaelic
  • ròn cumantaScottish Gaelic
  • LandselurIcelandic
  • foca comuneItalian
  • ゼニガタアザラシJapanese
  • paprastasis ruonisLithuanian
  • steinkobbeNorwegian Bokmål
  • ZeehondDutch
  • gewone zeehondDutch
  • fjordselNorwegian Nynorsk
  • foka pospolitaPolish
  • тюленьRussian
  • norrošNorthern Sami
  • geadgánNorthern Sami
  • geadgenjuorjuNorthern Sami
  • nuorrušNorthern Sami
  • navadni tjulenjSlovenian
  • knubbsälSwedish
  • bayağı fokTurkish
  • liman focuTurkish
  • liman fokuTurkish
  • Звичайний тюленьUkrainian
  • Тюлень звичайнийUkrainian

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the harbor seal

Other species in the same genus Phoca.

CompareHarbor seal vs Spotted seal

Common questions

Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.

What kind of animal is the harbor seal?

The harbor seal is a mammal in the family Phocidae, order Carnivora. It has a marine lifestyle.

How heavy is a harbor seal?

An adult Harbor seal has a body mass of 100 kg, which places it in the large size class (25 to 250 kg).

What does the harbor seal eat?

The harbor seal is a piscivore, and its trophic level is carnivore.

Is the harbor seal endangered?

No. The harbor seal is listed as Least Concern (LC) in the global IUCN assessment, which is not an IUCN threatened category.

How long does a harbor seal live?

The harbor seal has a lifespan of 40 years, and our sources report values up to 47.6 years.

How many young does a harbor seal have?

The harbor seal has 1 young per litter and 1 litter per year, after a gestation period of 253.6 days.

When does a harbor seal reach sexual maturity?

The harbor seal reaches sexual maturity at 4.0 years (1,449 days).

Who named the harbor seal?

The harbor seal was named Phoca vitulina by Linnaeus, 1758.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/harbor-seal

MLA

“Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/harbor-seal.

BibTeX
@misc{harbor_seal_2026,
  title = {Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/harbor-seal},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}