# Harbor seal (*Phoca vitulina*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/harbor-seal  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

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

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 94.3 kg – 100 kg |
| Length | up to 1.85 m |
| Lifespan | 40 years |
| Diet | Piscivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 47.6 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | coastal, marine, rocky |
| Gestation | 254 days – 350 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 1 |
| Age at maturity | 3.97 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Active | By day (diurnal) |
| Lifestyle | Marine |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Mammalia
- order: Carnivora
- family: Phocidae
- genus: Phoca
- species: *Phoca vitulina* Linnaeus, 1758

## Common questions

### 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

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1), CC0 1.0, 1.0. Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

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