Seals

Scientific name

Phocoena phocoena

Gaelic name

Muc-bhiorach

Hi! I'm Alexander and I'm a grey seal.

My friends call me Sandy because when I was a pup I was a sandy colour. But now that I'm a grown up grey seal I don't look sandy any more. I look more like a pebbly beach with dark grey blotches!

Sometimes it is difficult to tell us from our cousins, the common seals. Common seals are smaller than us grey seals and some people say they look more friendly. However we have long regal noses and we don't lie about on the rocks sunbathing as much as they do. You can always see the lazy common seals lying about sunbathing like large grey slugs.

We all belong to a group of marine mammals called Pinnipeds. The whales, dolphins and porpoises belong to the group called the Cetaceans and they breathe through a blowhole. Pinnipeds like me all breathe air in and out through our mouths just like most mammals.

Just like whales, dolphins and porpoises, all seals are mammals so we give birth to babies that we call pups. They are fluffy and have big, sad eyes. The fluffy fur is to keep us warm whilst we are small and we lose it later on to get sleek hair so that we can swim quickly.

Feeding

I was a pup once and I suckled from my Mum too. But now I'm grown up I like to eat fish and sometimes squid.

Behaviour

I am a very good swimmer as are all seals. We use our hind flippers to propel us through the water and our fore flippers to steer.

The seals you see on TV or in circuses are usually not seals but are sea lions. Sea lions are very similar to the "true seals" like me, but they swim using their fore flippers just like you use your arms to push you along in the water when you swim.

The pups often get left on the shore whilst their Mums go off to feed in the sea. But their Mums will come back to feed them milk. So if you see a pup on its own just leave it alone. If you do go near it, then Mum may not come back at all and the pup will starve.

Threats

I have to be careful, because some of the killer whales will try to eat seals. Also some people shoot seals since they think we steal fish from the fish farms.

Actually we are quite useful since we swim around the fish farms and eat fish that have escaped and this cuts down on diseases.

Distribution

Both grey seals and common seals are found around Britain . In fact 50% (1/2) of all the grey seals in the world live here.

Another marine mammal found around Britain is the otter. If you click on Stan the starfish he will take you to find out more about them on the next page.

Otters

click here to go back to rest of species