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Animal Age

How old does a Harbor seal get? (age expectancy)

What is the maximal age a Harbor seal reaches?

An adult Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) usually gets as old as 40 years.

Harbor seals are around 288 days in the womb of their mother. When born, they weight 10.21 kg (22.51 lbs) and measure 77.1 cm (2′ 7″). As a member of the Phocidae family (genus: Phoca), their offspring is 1 babies per pregnancy. Fully grown, they reach a bodylength of 1.61 meter (5′ 4″).

As a reference: Usually, humans get as old as 100 years, with the average being around 75 years. After being carried in the belly of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks), they grow to an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) and weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual.

A Harbor seal gets as old as 40 years

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, Pacific Oceans, Baltic and North Seas.Harbor seals are brown, silvery white, tan, or gray, with distinctive V-shaped nostrils. An adult can attain a length of 1.85 m (6.1 ft) and a mass of up to 168 kg (370 lb). Blubber under the seal’s skin helps to maintain body temperature. Females outlive males (30–35 years versus 20–25 years). Harbor seals stick to familiar resting spots or haulout sites, generally rocky areas (although ice, sand, and mud may also be used) where they are protected from adverse weather conditions and predation, near a foraging area. Males may fight over mates under water and on land. Females bear a single pup after a nine-month gestation, which they care for alone. Pups can weigh up to 16 kg (35 lb) and are able to swim and dive within hours of birth. They develop quickly on their mothers’ fat-rich milk, and are weaned after four to six weeks.The global population of harbor seals is 350,000–500,000, but subspecies in certain habitats are threatened. Once a common practice, sealing is now illegal in many nations within the animal’s range.

Animals of the same family as a Harbor seal

Not really brothers and sisters, but from the same biological family (Phocidae):

Animals that reach the same age as Harbor seal

With an average age of 40 years, Harbor seal are in good companionship of the following animals:

Animals with the same number of babies Harbor seal

The same number of babies at once (1) are born by:

Weighting as much as Harbor seal

A fully grown Harbor seal reaches around 87.31 kg (192.49 lbs). So do these animals:

  • Addax weighting 95.39 kilos (210.3 lbs) on average
  • Bighorn sheep weighting 74.63 kilos (164.53 lbs) on average
  • South Asian river dolphin weighting 93.49 kilos (206.11 lbs) on average
  • Eld’s deer weighting 94.7 kilos (208.78 lbs) on average
  • Wild boar weighting 84.49 kilos (186.27 lbs) on average
  • Lechwe weighting 88.02 kilos (194.05 lbs) on average
  • Guanaco weighting 95.5 kilos (210.54 lbs) on average
  • Baikal seal weighting 89.5 kilos (197.31 lbs) on average
  • Ribbon seal weighting 90 kilos (198.42 lbs) on average
  • Mountain goat weighting 71.84 kilos (158.38 lbs) on average

Animals as big as a Harbor seal

Those animals grow as big as a Harbor seal: