They can dive to 1, feet for up to 40 minutes, although their average dive lasts three to seven minutes and is typically shallow. They sometimes also sleep in the water. As opportunistic feeders, harbor seals eat sole, flounder, sculpin, hake, cod, herring, octopus and squid. While harbor seals swim safely in the surf, they will often curiously watch humans walking on beaches. However, they are wary of people while on land and will rush into the water if approached too closely or disturbed.
In fact, if disturbed too often, they have been known to abandon favorite haul-out sites or even their own pups. Close Notification Close icon. Will You Be Yura's Hero? What do they sound like?
Adopt Me Meet More Patients. In , this hunting program ended, but harbor seals continue to face several threats from the humans. Industrial and agricultural pollutant runoff cause some harbor seal populations to experience reproductive problems, disease and vitamin deficiencies. Oil spills, fishing gear entanglement, noise pollution, habitat destruction and harassment from humans also impact harbor seal populations.
The Marine Mammal Protection Act of made it illegal to hunt or harass harbor seals, which includes feeding them and getting too close to them.
Harbor seals can be found in freshwater rivers and lakes, as well as marine waters. There are 5 subscpecies of harbor seals: Eastern Pacific harbor seals; Western Pacific harbor seals; Eastern Atlantic harbor seals; Western Atlantic harbor seals; and Seal Lake harbor seals. Harbor seal pups can dive for up to 2 minutes once they are only 2 to 3 days old. Harbor seals are considered the least vocal of all pinnipeds. Unlike their California sea lion neighbors that bark loudly, harbor seals rarely make noise except when disturbed by another being in their personal space.
Harbor seals grow to a maximum length of 6. Harbor seals spend up to 85 percent of their day foraging for food. Click here or below to download hands-on marine science activities for kids. Physical barriers, which may include shoreline and offshore structures for development e. Oil and gas development, commercial and recreational development including resort development , and increased vessel traffic may displace seals or their prey that would normally use those areas.
Contaminants enter ocean waters from many sources, including oil and gas development, wastewater discharges, agricultural and urban runoff, and other industrial processes. Once in the environment, these substances move up the food chain and accumulate in top predators such as harbor seals. These chemicals do not degrade. Harbor seals accumulate contaminants, which threaten their immune and reproductive systems, in their blubber, blood, and organs for example, liver or brain.
These chemicals can be passed on to their pups during pregnancy and in milk. Inadvertent vessel collisions can injure or kill harbor seals.
Harbor seals are vulnerable to vessel collisions throughout their range, but the risk is much higher in some coastal areas with heavy vessel traffic. NOAA Fisheries is committed to the protection of harbor seals. Targeted management actions taken to secure protections for these seals include:. Our research projects have discovered new aspects of harbor seal biology, behavior, and ecology and have helped us better understand the challenges that all harbor seals face.
Our work includes:. Report a sick, injured, entangled, stranded, or dead animal to make sure professional responders and scientists know about it and can take appropriate action. Numerous organizations around the country are trained and ready to respond. Never approach or try to save an injured or entangled animal yourself—it can be dangerous to both the animal and you.
Learn who you should contact when you encounter a stranded or injured marine animal. This hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for anyone in the United States.
Be responsible when viewing marine life in the wild. Observe all seals and sea lions from a safe distance of at least 50 yards and limit your time spent observing to 30 minutes or less.
Learn more about our marine life viewing guidelines. Harbor seals are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Harbor seals are vulnerable to chemical contaminants because they are near the top of the food chain. Some harbor seals haul out in public areas. Sharing Seal Space by the Seashore. Harbor seals are at risk of harm in the event of an oil spill.
We work with volunteer networks in all coastal states to respond to marine mammal strandings including all pinnipeds. When stranded animals are found dead, our scientists work to understand and investigate the cause of death. Although the cause often remains unknown, scientists can sometimes attribute strandings to disease, harmful algal blooms, vessel strikes, fishing gear entanglements, pollution exposure, and underwater noise.
Some strandings can serve as indicators of ocean health, giving insight into larger environmental issues that may also have implications for human health and welfare. Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act , an unusual mortality event UME is defined as "a stranding that is unexpected; involves a significant die-off of any marine mammal population; and demands immediate response.
Get information on active and past UMEs. Get an overview of marine mammal UMEs. The most effective way to reduce vessel disturbance is for vessels to stay away from seals.
If this is not possible, the second-best option is for vessels to follow voluntary approach guidelines. Both have the added benefit of also reducing risk of vessel strikes. In Alaska, for example, we have issued voluntary approach guidelines to reduce the disturbance of harbor seals in glacial fjords. Tidewater glacier areas provide essential habitat for harbor seals, especially when nursing pups and molting.
Because glaciers in Alaska are experiencing unprecedented rates of ice loss, harbor seals are already coping with reduced ice cover at some tidewater glaciers, which makes them more sensitive to other impacts. The guidelines suggest that all vessels from kayaks to cruise ships should:. As the primary consumptive users of Alaska harbor seals, Alaska Natives are committed to a long-term, sustainable harvest of harbor seals for food and handicrafts.
Their long history of self-regulation coupled with a rich oral tradition and day-to-day contact with Alaska harbor seals gives them special insights into and knowledge of this important marine mammal.
Paul Island. Learn more about the subsistence harvest of harbor seals in Alaska. NOAA Fisheries conducts various research activities on the biology, behavior, and ecology of harbor seals. The results of this research are used to inform management decisions for this species. A harbor seal with a satellite tag swims in Alaska.
In the Aleutian Islands of Alaska and western North Atlantic, NOAA Fisheries scientists and their collaborators track location data from satellite tags deployed on harbor seals to determine their movement and distribution, as well as their diving and haul-out behavior.
Learn more about the movement and dive behavior of harbor seals in the Aleutian Islands. Our scientists have continually monitored this population since Assessing the status of the harbor seal stock allows managers to determine if they are meeting conservation goals under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Our scientists collect information on population size, trends, and human-caused mortality and present these data in annual stock assessment reports. Scientists observe harbor seals to record their numbers and distribution.
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