Spotted Seal
Phoca largha
Conservation Status
Least ConcernMammalia · Carnivora · Phocidae
About
The spotted seal, also known as the larga seal or largha seal, is a species of earless seal. It inhabits ice floes and waters of the north Pacific Ocean and adjacent seas. It is primarily found along the continental shelf of the Beaufort, Chukchi, Bering and Okhotsk Seas and south to the northern Yellow Sea and it migrates south as far as northern Huanghai and the western Sea of Japan. It is also found in Alaska from the southeastern Bristol Bay to Demarcation Point during the ice-free seasons of summer and autumn when spotted seals mate and have pups. Smaller numbers are found in the Beaufort Sea. It is sometimes mistaken for the harbor seal to which it is closely related and spotted seals and harbor seals often mingle together in areas where their habitats overlap.
Fun Fact
The numerically largest groups in Alaska are at Kasegaluk Lagoon in the Chukchi Sea, near Cape Espenburg in Kotzebue Sound, and in Kuskokwim Bay on sandbars and shoals, where several thousand may collect.
Quick Facts
Habitat
Live in the open ocean or on nearby shores.
Diet
Eat primarily krill and small crustaceans while adults eat a variety of fish including herring, Arctic cod, Pacific cod, pollock, and capelin, as well as mollusks and crustaceans.
Lifespan
35 years
Threats
- Habitat Change
- Human Disturbance