Spotted Seal Skull Replica
$242.00
Spotted Seals sexual maturity is attained around the age of four. January to mid-April is the breeding season. Pup births peak in mid-March. During breeding season, they form families made up of a male, female, and their pup, born after a 10-month gestation period.
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- Additional information
Description
Spotted Seal Skull Replica measures 7.9 inches. Spotted Seal Skull Replica is museum quality polyurethane cast. Made in USA. Phoca largha is the scientific name. 2-part skull (separate cranium and jaw). Our precise skull can be used as a teaching tool, museum skull exhibit, home décor skull, or office décor skull.
Spotted seals, also called largha seals, are named for their spotted pelts. The head of a Spotted seal or Phoca largha is round, with a narrow snout resembling that of a dog. The dense fur varies in color from silver to gray and white and is characterized by dark, irregular spots covering the entire body.
This species feeds on various schooling fishes, krill, herring, arctic cod, pollock, and capelin. The Spotted seal or Phoca largha is gregarious, sometimes herding together in groups numbering into the thousands.
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.
Spotted seals or Phoca largha are relatively shy and are difficult for humans to approach. They can be solitary in general but are gregarious and form large groups during pupping and molting seasons when they haul out on ice floes or, lacking ice, on land.
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.
Sexual maturity is attained around the age of four. January to mid-April is the breeding season. Pup births peak in mid-March. Spotted seals are believed annually monogamous, and during breeding season, they form families made up of a male, female, and their pup, born after a 10-month gestation period. Average birth size is 3 feet and 26 lbs. Pups are weaned six weeks later. The maximum lifespan of the spotted seal or Phoca largha is 35 years with few living beyond 25.
Spotted seals dive to depths up to 1,000 feet while feeding on a variety of ocean prey. Juveniles eat primarily krill and small crustaceans while adults eat a variety of fish including herring, arctic cod, pollock, and capelin.
They do not seem to vocalize a lot, although not much is known about their vocalizations. They appear to vocalize more while in molting groups. When approached in these groups, Phoca largha make various sounds such as growls, barks, moans, and roars.
Spotted Seal Facts:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Clade: Pinnipedia
Scientific name: phoca-largha
Family: Phocidae
Genus: Phoca
Species: P. largha
Binomial name: Phoca largha
Conservation status: Least concern
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Additional information
Weight | 6 lbs |
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Dimensions | 7.9 in |
International Seal Day - March 22nd | Every year on March 22nd, the International Day of the Seal promotes the conservation of seals worldwide. It’s also a day to celebrate this amazing marine mammal. A seal is a type of animal called a pinniped, which is Latin for “fin-footed.” Other pinnipeds include the walrus and sea lion. What makes seals different than other pinnipeds is that they don’t really use their flippers to walk. When on land, they usually slide around on their bellies. In the water, their flippers help them swim really fast. Seals are also much quieter and smaller than their sea lion and walrus cousins. |