Northern Fur SealPhotos, Pictures, Prints

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Callorhinus ursinus

The northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) is an eared seal found along the north Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, and the Sea of Okhotsk. It is the largest member of the fur seal subfamily and the only living species in the genus Callorhinus.

Northern fur seals display extreme sexual dimorphism, with males being 30–40% longer and more than 4.5 times heavier than females. The head is foreshortened in both sexes because of the very short, down-curved muzzle. It’s small nose extends slightly beyond the mouth in females and moderately in males.

Meanwhile, their pelage is thick and luxuriant, with a dense underfur in a creamy color. That said, fur is absent on the top of the fore flippers. Hence an abrupt “clean line” cuts across the wrist where the fur ends.

These seals’ hind flippers are very long because of extremely long, cartilaginous extensions on all of the toes. Also, their ear pinnae are long and conspicuous. The eyes are proportionately large, especially on females, subadults, and juveniles.

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