Volume 22, Plate XVIII / Mammalia (Mammals)

Common Seal

Phoca vitulina

Frequenting coasts, estuaries, and northern channels, this seal sometimes reaches five or six feet, with ovate depressed head, short round neck, elongated body, very short fore limbs, and backward hind feet forming a fan-shaped paddle, the stiff fur yellowish-grey variegated with greyish-brown above. Feeding exclusively on fishes during minutes-long dives, it basks ashore in droves, swims gracefully but moves awkwardly on land, shows fondness for music, and the female bears commonly one young in summer.