Harbour Seal

Phoca vitulina

The harbour, or common, seal is the most abundant seal around Iceland. It can be found all around the country but is rarer in the northern part.

Harbour seals are coastal, non- migratory, and aggregate in small numbers on skerries, small islands, and also on beaches and in estuaries.

This is a rather small seal and can reach a maximum of 2 m in length. The average size of males is 1.7 m and 105 kg.

The females are smaller as is almost universal for seals. It breeds in the spring.

They eat a variety of fish species, cephalopods and crustaceans.

HÞV