#0003 · 🦊 mammals

Harbor Seal

🇳🇱 Gewone zeehond ·Phoca vitulina

LCleast concern 🦊 Mammals 📍 in the Netherlands

9 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © Andrew Reding · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
2. © Pierce Louderback · CC BY-NC 4.0
3. © ucumari photography · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
4. © Dan Roach · CC BY-NC 4.0
5. © Dan Roach · CC BY-NC 4.0
6. © Lorenzo Vinciguerra · CC BY-NC 4.0
7. © Beth Pratt · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
8. © Brendan Murtha · CC BY-NC 4.0
9. © Hans Hillewaert · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

what is it?

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 and the Baltic and North Seas.

base stats

NL sightings 1,348iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 75,173iNaturalist observations
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

Spotted 1,348 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: the #3 most seen of the mammals in NL.
75,173 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).