The coat colour varies from grey to brown to silver, often with blotches. Weight: 100 to 400 kg, males being larger. (Fabricius, 1791) - Gray seal Distinctive Characteristics Grey seals are robust and sexually dimorphic; males grow noticeably larger, with a proportionately larger and broader head. Despite their amphibious lifestyle, all Pinnipeds occupy the order of Carnivora — the same order as cats, bears, canids, raccoons, skunks, and mongooses. Grassholm. ... Halichoerus grypus. Males (bulls) can be distinguished from females by the pattern of darker and lighter fur colour. The grey seal (Halichoerus grypus ) is the larger of Britain's two species of breeding seal. Grey seal can dive to … The distinctive muzzle is particularly long, and wide at the end, with a fleshy mystacial area that somewhat obscures the lower jaw. This weight gain consists mainly of a layer of blubber below their skin, which is vital insulation when they go to sea.

The common seal can be distinguished from the grey seal by its smaller size and shorter head with a more concave forehead. The male grey seal has a long-arched roman nose which is the basis for its Latin name, Halichoerus grypus, meaning the hooked-nose sea pig. The name Pinniped is aptly chosen, since it means “fin-footed” in Latin. The grey seal has also been called "Horsehead Seal", due to its distinctive long head. Grey seals breed from September to December around the British coasts. Unlike Otariids (sea lions), true seals have no external ear flaps and have shorter/stubbier fore-flippers. Common seals have V-shaped nostrils. Bearing the less-than-noble nickname "hook-nosed sea pig," these sleek swimmers were once close to extinction in the US and are now protected under American law Gray Seal cruises . The males of this species are 195-230 cm long and weigh 170-310 kg. They are very variable in colour, from blonde to black, but generally grey with dark spots. Mission. They remain on land where they suck from their mother for 18-21 days. Description. The latin name for the grey seal is Halichoerus grypus, which translates to "hooked-nosed pig of the sea". Name: Grey Seal, Atlantic Seal, Horsehead Seal (Halichoerus grypus) Length: 1.5 to 3.5 metres. Scientific Name Halichoerus grypus Location Aland Islands Comments Finland (Åland Islands) / Sweden: A grey seal waving its flipper on Märket, a small lighthouse island in the Baltic Sea at the border between Finland and Sweden. It is the only species classified in the genus Halichoerus. Seals are aquatic mammals which belong to the family ‘Pinnipedia’ which means ‘winged-feet’ and refers to their flippers, which are specially adapted for life in the sea.

Scientific Name: Halichoerus grypus (This roughly translates to 'hook-nosed sea pig') Grey seals are members of the 'true seal' (or Phocid) family. The grey seal, scientifically known as h alichoerus grypus (meaning "hooked-nosed sea pig"). Gray seals are making a huge comeback .