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= = ==[|HARP SEAL] (more pictures) ==

__Scientific name__: pagophilus groenlandicus
===__Type of Organism__: carnivore Eats crabs,krill, crustations, capelin, plaice, eels, shrimp, salmon, [|octopus], cod, plankton, jellyfish. Pups drink milk from their mother. One interesting fact is that if a harp seal pup eats, it's teeth grow. When it doesn't eat it's teeth don't grow.=== ===__Geographic Location:__ Harp seals spend relatively little time on land and prefer to swim in the North Atlantic and[|Arctic Oceans.]===

__Status__: threatened __Cause of Decline__:they are threatened by reef poisoning, getting tangled in fishing nets, pollution being distributed into the water, and shark attacks.
===[|Timeline] : in the spring, harp seals migrate southward to assemble in large groups to breed near the Newfoundland and Norwegian coasts. The young, born on ice, are covered with a fluffy white coat from birth to weaning (about 12 to 18 days) and are hunted for their fur,meat, and skin. The clubbing to death of baby seals aroused much protest in the 1970s, and trade in their white furs has declined after Europe banned imports in the mid-1980s. A decade later, however, concerns over the seals' affect on the cod fisheries led to increased quotas and the return of large commercial operations to the annual hunt, but killing of white-coated baby deals is banned.=== ===__Organizations working on the problem__: The overwhelming majority of Canadians, Americans, and Europeans oppose the commercial seal hunt, and man of us are willing to use our consumer power to help stop it. To pressure the Canadian government and fishing industry to take action, The HSUS and our ProtectSeals network are asking consumers to boycott Canadian seafood products and restaurants and other businesses to pledge to limit or eliminate their purchasing of Canadian seafood until the [|seal hunt] has been ended for good.=== ===__Projections for the future__: Issues are complex, and there are several sides to the argument. For the present, maintaining the permitted TAC at its current level seems like the sensible option. However, the situation needs careful monitoring, and any significant fall in the seal population needs to be reacted to quickly and forcibly by the Canadian Government. ===

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