?Northern Fur Seal Conservation status: Vulnerable
Northern Fur Seal Bull, St Paul Island, 1992 photo by Rolf Ream, NMML.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Suborder: Pinnipedia Family: Otariidae Genus: Callorhinus Gray, 1859 Species: C. ursinus
Binomial name
Callorhinus ursinus Linnaeus, 1758
Range map

The Northern Fur Seal, Callorhinus ursinus, is an eared seal. It is the only species in the genus Callorhinus. It is found in the north Pacific Ocean. The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive. ... Image File history File links Northfursealbull. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms (as opposed to folk taxonomy). ... Phyla Subregnum Parazoa Porifera (sponges) Subregnum Agnotozoa Placozoa (trichoplax) Orthonectida (orthonectids) Rhombozoa (dicyemids) Subregnum Eumetazoa Radiata (unranked) (radial symmetry) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anemones) Bilateria (unranked) (bilateral symmetry) Acoelomorpha (basal) Orthonectida (parasitic to flatworms, echinoderms, etc. ... Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicatas Ascidiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include the vertebrates, together with... Orders Subclass Multituberculata (extinct) Plagiaulacida Cimolodonta Subclass Palaeoryctoides (extinct) Subclass Triconodonta (extinct) Subclass Eutheria (excludes extinct ancestors) Afrosoricida Anagaloidea (extinct) Artiodactyla Carnivora Cetacea Chiroptera Cimolesta (extinct) Creodonta (extinct) Condylarthra (extinct) Dermoptera Desmostylia (extinct) Dinocerata (extinct) Embrithopoda (extinct) Hyracoidea Insectivora Lagomorpha Litopterna (extinct) Macroscelidea Mesonychia (extinct) Notoungulata (extinct) Perissodactyla Pholidota Plesiadapiformes... Families Ailuridae Amphicyonidae† Canidae Felidae Herpestidae Hyaenidae Mephitidae Miacidae† Mustelidae Nandiniidae Nimravidae† Odobenidae Otariidae Phocidae Procyonidae Ursidae Viverravidae† Viverridae The diverse order Carnivora pronounced: (from Latin caro flesh, + vorare to devour) includes over 260 placental mammals. ... subfamilies Otariidae Phocidae Odobenidae Pinnipeds are large marine mammals belonging to the Pinnipedia, a family (sometimes a suborder or superfamily, depending on the classification scheme) of the order Carnivora. ... John Edward Gray. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Carolus Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as , (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist[1] who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature. ... 1758 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Image File history File links Leefgebied_noordelijke_zeebeer. ... Genera Arctocephalus Callorhinus Eumetopias Neophoca Otaria Phocarctos Zalophus The eared seals (or walking seals), family Otariidae, are the fur seals and the sea lions. ...

Physical description

Male and harem

The Northern Fur Seal, has substantial physical differences compared to its cousins: its head is smaller, snout shorter and the hindflippers are the largest of any eared seal. The "fingers" on the hindflippers are conspicous by their length. Males are substantially larger (2m, 270kg) and darker-coloured (the pelage is dark brown or black) than the female (1.5m, 60kg, light brown to grey). Males live for up to 20 years, and females 25. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2368x1581, 5572 KB) Summary Northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) and harem. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2368x1581, 5572 KB) Summary Northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) and harem. ...

Northern Fur breeding grounds are fairly densely packed, though activities at sea are generally solitary. Pups are weaned in October. They enter the water and start heading south towards the end of November. Individuals return to the breeding grounds in May. Males aggressively establish their territory and herd females into it. Males are polygynous with each breeding season. June is birthing month. Having stayed with their pups for the first eight to ten days of their life, females then begin foraging trips lasting about a week. These trips last for about four months before weaning. A breastfeeding infant Breastfeeding is the practice of a woman feeding an infant (or sometimes a toddler or a young child) with milk produced from her mammary glands, usually directly from the nipples. ...

Fur Seals eat a mixture of pelagic fish and squid.

Range

The Northern Fur Seal is found in the north Pacific – its southernmost reach is a line that runs roughly from the southern tip of Japan to the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea. The largest breeding colonies are the Pribilof Islands and Commander Islands in the Bering Sea. Breeding also occurs on Robben Island in the Sea of Okhotsk, islands around the north of Japan and San Miguel Island off California. Baja California (highlighted) Baja California or Lower California is a peninsula in the west of Mexico. ... Map of the Sea of Okhotsk. ... Bering Sea and the North Pacific Ocean The Bering (or Imarpik) Sea is a body of water above, and separated from, the north Pacific Ocean by the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands. ... The Pribilof Islands (often called the Fur Seal Islands, Russian: Kotovi) are a group of four volcanic islands, part of Alaska, lying in the Bering Sea, about 200 miles north of Unalaska and 200 miles south of Cape Newenham, the nearest point on the North American mainland. ... The Komandorski Islands or Commander Islands, (in Russian, Komandorskiye Ostrova) are a group of treeless islands east of the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East, in the Bering Sea. ... Prison buildings on Robben Island. ... Aerial view of San Miguel San Miguel Island is the westernmost of Californias Channel Islands and the sixth-largest of the eight at 9,325 acres (37. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ...

There are estimated to be around 1.2m Northern Fur Seals across the range. The other fur seal found in the northern hemisphere is the Guadalupe Fur Seal – the two species' ranges overlap in the north-east Pacific. Binomial name Arctocephalus townsendi Merriam, 1897 Dark blue: breeding colonies; light blue: other colonies. ...

Hunting

Northern Fur Seals have been a staple food of native Russian and Alaskan Inuit peoples for thousands of years. It also provides a fine pelt. Indeed its genus name comes from the Greek for "beautiful hide".

More substantial harvests beginning in the eighteenth century lead to a decrease in numbers. A multi-national agreement of 19xx ended hunting of seals at sea with the proviso that a managed take at the Pribilof islands could take its place. Commercial hunting ended completely in 1984, however a subsistence hunt continues - around 1,500 animals are taken each year.

See also

• Marine Mammal Center

Release of rehabilitated pinnipeds into the Pacific Ocean The Marine Mammal Center is a private non-profit organization centered on rescue, rehabilitation, environmental research and education pertaining to certain species within the pinnipedia, carnivora and cetacea biological orders. ...

References

• Seal Specialist Group (1996). Callorhinus ursinus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Listed as Vulnerable (VU A1b v2.3)
• Randall R. Reeves, Brent S. Stewart, Phillip J. Clapham and James A. Powell (2002). National Audubon Society Guide to Marine Mammals of the World. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. ISBN 0375411410.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species. ... The World Conservation Union or International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ...

External links

• ARKive - images and movies of the northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus)