• Seals or Pinnipeds 

These seals belong to the phocids or earless seals. They can not bring their hind flippers under the body as another group of seals can (otariids or sea lions, fur seals, etc.), they swim with a side-to-side motion of their body using their hind flippers as a rudder and they lack ear lobes or pinnae. 

One species, which is the only member of the odobenids, has been extirpated (or removed) through hunting pressure (walrus). 

Seals occupy a controversial place in the Bay of Fundy because of conflicts with fisheries and aquaculture but they are generally regarded positively by visitors and there are growing numbers of "Seal Watching Adventures"in conjunction with other activities.

Phocids or Earless Seals:
Harbour Seals (Phoca vitulina concolor) - common
Grey Seals (Halichoerus grypus)- occasional
Harp Seals (Phoca groenlandica)- rare
Hooded Seals (Crystophora cristata)- rare

Odobenid:
Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus)- extirpated

Harbour Seals (Phoca vitulina concolor)
Size:Length: 170cm (5'6") Weight: 155kg (250lb)
Colour: Coat is mottled, varies from white to tan to dark brown to red (when wet looks grey or dark)
Distinguishing Characteristics: Small seal, Dog-like face, V-shaped nostrils
Diet: Fish, crustaceans, squid
Pupping: May-June on rocky ledges. Precocious, swimming shortly after birth
Weaning: ~1 month
Occurrence - Bay of Fundy: Common

Harbour seals are considered a pest to most fishing practises, especially herring weirs and Atlantic Salmon aquaculture sites. The latter employ underwater sound makers and double nets to keep the seals away. Bounties on harbour seals were in place until the early 1980's. Harbour seals are frequently seen in the water, especially from lookouts and around weirs. When they "haul out" it is usually on rocky ledges and offshore islands rather than populated islands because they are wary of humans, although pups sometimes haul out in unexpected places. Seal pups should be left where they are for at least 48 hours before contacting Fisheries and Oceans or the Grand Manan Whale & Seabird Research Station. The pups may just be resting and will return to the water when hungry. After separating from their mothers they tend not to associate with adult seals until much larger. There is a positive attitude toward harbour seals during the summer by whale watch vessels since they often stop to see seals on haul out ledges.

Grey Seals (Halichoerus grypus)
Size: Length: 245cm (8') males, 215cm (7') females Weight: 450kg (990lb) males, 270kg (600lb) females
Colour: Coat is mottled, Female had light coat with dark spots, male has dark coat with light spots (when wet looks grey or dark)
Distinguishing Characteristics: Med-large seal, long head - "horsehead", W-shaped nostrils
Diet: Fish, crustaceans, squid
Pupping: mid-Dec.-Feb. on rocky ledges, white coat. 
Weaning: 16 days, followed by moult
Occurrence - Bay of Fundy:
Occasional (increasing)Grey seals are also considered a pest in herring weirs and Atlantic Salmon aquaculture sites. The latter employ sound makers and double nets to keep the seals away. Grey seals are the primary host for the codworm (now called sealworm). One stage is found in the muscle of various fish species, fish processors often "candle" infected fillets (place them over a light table) and remove the worms by hand. Grey seals are sometimes seen in the water, their prominently shaped heads distinguishing them from harbour seals. When they "haul out" it is usually on rocky ledges and offshore islands with harbour seals rather than populated islands because they too are wary of humans. There is a positive attitude toward grey seals during the summer by whale watch vessels since they often stop to see seals on haul out ledges.

Harp Seals (Phoca groenlandica)
Size: Length: 170cm (5'7") Weight: 130kg (296lb)
Colour: Adult is white with dark "harp" on back, dark face. Pup is white "whitecoat", moults to grey coat with dark spots "beaters" within 3 weeks. Immatures (14 months+) called "bedlamers"
Distinguishing characteristics: Med-large seal; distinctive "harp" on back of adult
Diet: Fish, crustaceans
Pupping: Feb.-mid-Mar. on pack ice- Gulf of St. Lawrence
Weaning: 10 days
Occurrence - Bay of Fundy: Rare

Harp seals are rare visitors to the Bay of Fundy, usually living in the Arctic in the summer and pupping on ice floes in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the winter. Harps seals have been involved in a hunting/animal rights debate for many years. As a result the young pups (whitecoats) are no longer hunted. The population is increasing with decreases in hunting pressure. Concern has been raised by fishers that the increased seal population may affect recovering cod stocks. Because of the rarity of this seal in the Bay of Fundy it is not considered a pest to fisheries or aquaculture, nor is it hunted, but would be treated in the same manner as harbour and grey seals when it occurs.

Hooded Seals (Crystophora cristata)
Size:Length: 260cm (8'5")males, 220cm (7'3") females Weight: 365kg (800lb)males, 225kg (500lb) females
Colour: Adult is mottled bluish-grey with a black face. Pups are white but quickly moult to blue coat on back, dark face and white underbelly "bluebacks"
Distinguishing Characteristics: Med-large seal; male has inflatable red nasal sac
Diet: Fish, crustaceans, squid
Pupping: Mar.-early Apr. On ice 
Weaning: 4 days
Occurrence - Bay of Fundy: Rare

Normally found in the Arctic in the summer, hooded seals pup on ice floes in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the winter. These seals have been subject to a hunt for many years, although the pressure is less than in the past. The population is increasing with the decrease in hunting pressure. Concern has been raised by fishers that the increased seal population may affect recovering cod stocks. Because of the rarity of this seal in the Bay of Fundy it is not considered a pest to fisheries or aquaculture, nor is it hunted, but would be treated in the same manner as harbour and grey seals when it occurs.

Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus)
Size:Length: 3m (10') males, 2.5m (8'3") females Weight: 1200kg (2640lb) males, 800kg (1760lb) females
Colour: Skin is brown with sparse red hair. May appear white or red at times
Distinguishing characteristics: Long tusks, stout whiskers, large size, square face
Diet: Bivalves, polychaetes, fish
Pupping: Apr.-Jun. in Arctic
Weaning: 2 years
Occurrence - Bay of Fundy: Extirpated

Walrus were extirpated from the Bay of Fundy by European settlers and seafarers. Their distribution is now restricted to the Arctic. The only sighting of a walrus in the Bay of Fundy in this century was in 1937 in Bear Cove, NS. They have very heavy bones which are easily identified. Middens (bone and shell refuse heaps) along the Fundy coast always have walrus remains, indicating their importance as food. Walrus bones come up occasionally when fisherfolk drag for scallops.

References:

"A field guide to whales, porpoises and seals from Cape Cod to Newfoundland". 4th ed. Steve Katona, Valerie Rough & David Richardson. 1993. Smithsonian Press. 316pp

"Marine Mammals of the Bay of Fundy with a reference summary of the conservation & protection status of marine mammals in all Canadian waters". David Gaskin. 1997. Bulletin No. 1, Whale & Seabird Research Station. 121pp.

"A History of the Mammals of Grand Manan" in "The Other Creatures", L.K. Ingersoll & S.W. Gorham. 1978. The Grand Manan Historian, No. XX, pp. 31-54.

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