Grey seal

The grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. In Latin Halichoerus grypus means "hook-nosed sea pig". It is a large seal of the family Phocidae, which are commonly referred to as "true seals" or "earless seals". It is the only species classified in the genus Halichoerus. Its name is spelled gray seal in the US; it is also known as Atlantic seal and the horsehead seal. There are two recognized subspecies of this seal: The type specimen of H. g. grypus (Zoological Museum of Copenhagen specimen ZMUC M11-1525, caught off the island of Amager, Danish part of the Baltic Sea) was believed lost for many years but was rediscovered in 2016, and a DNA test showed it belonged to a Baltic Sea specimen rather than from Greenland, as had previously been assumed (because it was first described in Otto Fabricius' book on the animals in Greenland: Fauna Groenlandica). The name H. g. grypus was therefore transferred to the Baltic subspecies (replacing H. g. macrorhynchus), and the name H. g. atlantica resurrected for the Atlantic subspecies. Molecular studies have indicated that the eastern and western Atlantic populations have been genetically distinct for at least one million years, and could potentially be considered separate subspecies. This is a fairly large seal, with bulls in the eastern Atlantic populations reaching long and weighing ; the cows are much smaller, typically long and in weight. Individuals from the western Atlantic are often much larger, with males averaging up to and reaching a weight of as much as and females averaging up to and sometimes weighing up to . Record-sized bull grey seals can reach about in length. A common average weight in Great Britain was found to be about for males and for females whereas in Nova Scotia, Canada adult males averaged and adult females averaged . It is distinguished from the smaller harbor seal by its straight head profile, nostrils set well apart, and fewer spots on its body.