gray seal - quite a large animal, whose body length is about two meters, some individuals - and three.The body looks pretty powerful, as for the head, its front part is long enough that the name implies.In these animals, thick mustache, often with curved ends.Incidentally, the gray seal, gray seal - are synonymous.
Appearance
color wool mature individuals varies considerably depending on the place of residence, gender and age.Most seals different gray color, but colors can be anything - from pale to saturated.Sometimes there are little black individuals.Back seal always painted a little brighter than the stomach.Around the body of the animal randomly scattered richer than the basic background, spots of different sizes and shapes.They can be oblong, angular, oval.On the sides and belly are more colorful and flashy, and on the back - pale.The Baltic gray seal, this dear lover of ice, probably a different color of its fur from other species that prefer dry land.
Habitats and migration
Most of these animals inhabit the North Atlantic, namely its moderate zone.Everywhere they found in the Baltic Sea.This includes Bothnia (not all), and the Gulf of Riga.Seals are also common from the Barents Sea to the English Channel, it is possible to meet them, and off the coast of Ireland and England.In addition, no exception Faroe, Orkney, Shetland and the Hebrides.They live in the coastal waters of the central and northern Norway, and Iceland.Grey seal thus occur in many places.His range is extensive.
There are two subspecies of gray seals: Baltic, living in the same sea, and the Atlantic, residing in European waters.
what to eat these animals?
Eat gray seal mainly fish, invertebrates, they do not consume very little and often.They eat as shrimp, crabs and some species of squid.In the Baltic Sea a lot of food for them: cod, eels, salmon, herring, bream.With regard to the Murmansk coast, and there are fish-sparrow.They also eat cod.And what in European waters?There are some types of seals eat cod and flatfish, herring and halibut.But in the Gulf of St. Lawrence feed more.There, in addition to flounder, cod and herring, there are salmon, sharks, stingrays, and mackerel.This also feeds the gray seal.Red book, by the way, has long been enriched by the animal.
reproduction and growth
gray seal are interesting because females reproduce in a completely different time.And this applies not only to individuals from different habitats and animals from a single population.Previously, all schenyatsya Baltic seals, taken a liking to the eponymous sea ice;they tend to give birth in late winter and early spring.What can we say about animals that live in other places?All of them give birth on land, and it occurs much later than in the Baltic seals.Terms quite stretched.It is this gray seal differs from many other animals.
only been born babies covered with white, silky, long and thick hair.It has a brownish tint.But soon there is a change of fur, and the young grows short and thick hair, characteristic of mature individuals.When the female pups are fed with milk, rather they are growing fast, it lasts about three weeks.Some
a female grow in the five years to six years but everything they become sexually mature.And what about the males?They become adults usually seven years, however, take part in the reproduction start, obviously, only when it is ten.At this age the gray seal can already be considered mature.
Lifestyle
gray seal behavior depends mainly on to what form they are ecological.Let's look at the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Baltic Sea.It inhabits ice form.During molting and reproduction of these animals can be seen lying on the ice near the shore.In other periods gray seal is almost always in the water.
As for individuals living in other areas, they are several times over the years come to land, usually in places that they have long been chosen.It is mainly small islands or other remote sites, with rocky shores.However, the seals is important that the surfaces are straight and slopes to the water - not too steep.
These animals tend to gather in large groups, especially during the breeding season.They spread two kinds of sexual relations: polygamous (in addition to their typical even for elephant) and monogamous (typical of the majority of true seals).So-called harems can be seen exclusively on land - there is often around one male meets several of the female.
