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| The Northern Fur Seal is the most common of the fur seals and is closely related to the seal lion. It is one of the three species of fur seal still hunted for it's fur. The Northern Fur Seal was discovered off Alaska on the Commander Islands in 1741, and it was later found on the Pribilof Islands in 1786. The huge males weigh up to five times as much as the smaller females and spend most of their time defending their breeding territories. |
Male and female seals come together only during breeding season. Once they are mature, males never stray far from the breeding area. Females, however, make an annual migration to hunt in waters as far south as California. Much more agile than true seals [which do not have external ears], the northern fur seal uses its hind flippers to move quickly over short distances. When swimming, true seals propel themselves through the water almost entirely by their hind flippers, but the fur seal uses its webbed front flippers as well as its hind flippers. The northern fur seal's senses are well developed but how it navigates under-water is still unknown. Scientists believe that it may rely on the taste or smell of various ocean currents for guidance.
In June, male seals, called bulls, compete to establish breeding territories before the females, or cows, arrive on the beaches. Each bull gradually acquires a harem of up to forty cows. 
Within 48 hours of arriving at the breeding site, each cow gives birth to a single, small, black pup that was conceived during the previous year's mating season. Several days later the female mates with a dominant bull, and after suckling her pup for a few days, returns to the sea to hunt. After three months the pups are weaned, and they accompany the females on their migration south. The males remain in their territories for three months without eating. |
| FOOD & HUNTING |
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The northern fur seal spends most of its life hunting for food in the north Pacific. Its main food is fish, although it also eats squid and crustaceans. Like other seals, the northern fur seal uses its whiskers to catch fish. Each whisker has nerve endings that detect the vibrations made by passing fish. During the breeding season the females leave their pups regularly to make extended hunting trips. They travel distances of up to a hundred miles and are often gone for seven or eight days. The seals swim, rest, and sleep on the surface of the water until they reach suitable feeding grounds. They hunt mainly at night and can stay submerged for periods of up to seven minutes at a time. |
| FUR SEAL AND MAN |
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By 1834 fur traders had nearly wiped out the Pribilof northern fur seals. Other nations also endangered seals by killing them at sea. In 1911 the United States, Great Britain, Japan, and the Soviet Union agreed to honor prohibitions outlawing the killing of fur seals at sea and to conduct studies to find ways of preventing further decline. |
| KEY FACTS |
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Size
Length: Male up to 7 ft. Female up to 5 ft. Weight: Males 400 - 600 lb. Females, 65 - 110 lb. Breeding Sexual Maturity: 3 years Mating: Non-seasonal in the tropics; early autumn in extremes of range Gestation: 93 - 110 days Nunber of young: 1 - 4 cubs Lifestyle Habit: Solitary, except in breeding season, when they come together to mate. Diet: Ground-living mammals, domestic stock, fish, frogs, turtles, and small alligators. Lifespan: Up to 22 years |
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