Gray Seal

The gray seal ( Halichoerus grypus ) is a carnivorous Mammifère , of the Phocidé S. Halichoerus grypus is only Halichoerus . The gray seal and the marine Veau are the only species of seals which it is possible to see in certain beaches of the north and the North-West of France.

Description

The male gray seal can reach a 3 m length and a weight of 330 kg, while the females reach 2.2 m and 190 kg. Their body is squat and spindle-shaped. Their eyes are relatively small compared to the remainder of the body. The legs are webbed, broad, short and thick. With the birth, the young person who measures approximately 90 cm and weighs from 11 to 20 kg

Coloration : It presents a variety of tons of gray with a visible sexual dimorphism. Sometimes the males have a Fourrure with gray short hairs dark almost black with clearer tasks, the females being clearer with dark tasks.

le young person is covered with a fine peeling woolly white (known as “lanugo” ), this why it is named sometimes “ blanchon ”.

Habitat

The gray seal resides in the northern Atlantique, in subarctic and moderate water cold.
On finds it in North America, in Europe of north like in the Baltic.

In Europe, the large colonies are located in England, Ireland and Scotland.
En France, there exist small colonies on the Breton coasts and more particularly on the archipelago of Molène and the archipelago of the Seven Islands. Gray seals were observed in the part is Manche and in the southern zone of the the Bay of Biscay. Their presence is attested in France since the 18th century, but it is probably present since thousands of years.

The gray seals attend the coastal areas and come to ground on the sandy and rock coasts.

External bond

On the site of Molène iledemolene.fr, page devoted to the gray seal of Molène

Food mode

It is composed of all kinds of coastal and deep-sea fish and shellfish and molluscs.

Reproduction

The gray seals practice the Polygamie. The males fight to reach the females, but generally adopt a dissuasive behavior. The period of reproduction lasts of at the end of September at the beginning of March. The females put low on the dry land or the ice. The young people measure 80 cm to 105 cm and weigh 11 to 20 kg with the birth. They are nursed during approximately three weeks and lose to them lanugo, fur soft and silky of cream-coloured color, at the end of two to four weeks.

Gestation: 11 months , Carried: 1 small .

Predatory

Orc

Threaten

Driven out a long time by the Man for his fur and its grease, in particular at last century, it disappeared from many areas of its normal surface of distribution. It is currently protected by national and international regulations, but contineu to be suffered from involuntary catches, poaching (shooting with rifle) and pollution (because of its position in the food chain, its organization is particularly charged in marine pollutants).

External bonds

Zh-yue: 灰海豹

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