Latin name:
Phocinae-Phocini-Phoca-P.vitulina
Description:
Characteristics are a fat body, narrow head with a flat forehead, distinctively V-shaped nostrils and quite large, close-set eyes. It is difficult to distinguish the males from the females. They both reach 1.7 to 1.9 m in length and weigh 60 to 110 kg. They vary in colour from light to dark grey or brown, but their belly is always lighter. On their backs they have a pattern of fine, variegated spots.
Pups:
The pups have white, woolly baby-fur in their mother’s womb. They lose this before they are born. Pups are born between late spring and early summer.
Status:
Man has hunted common seals since pre-historic times. Nowadays, it is forbidden to kill seals along the Dutch, German and Danish coast, but in countries such as Canada, hunting seals still plays an important role in everyday life.
Range:
