Fur seal

The fur seal is a type of eared seal that belongs to the family Otariidae.

There are nine species of fur seals, eight of which live in the Southern Hemisphere and one in the Northern Hemisphere.

Fur seals are different from true seals because they have external ears, long and muscular foreflippers, and the ability to walk on all fours.

They are also known for their dense underfur, which protects them from the cold and makes them valuable for hunting.

Fur seals feed on fish, squid, krill, and penguins, and can dive up to 200 meters deep.

These animals are social animals that form large colonies on islands and coasts during the breeding season.

Fur seals are sexually dimorphic, meaning that males are much larger than females and have thicker necks and manes.

They also migrate, traveling long distances between feeding and breeding grounds.

• The northern fur seal ( Callorhinus ursinus ) is the only species that belongs to the genus Callorhinus, and it lives in the North Pacific Ocean.
  It breeds on islands in the Bering Sea, such as the Pribilof Islands, and migrates to the coast of California and Japan in the winter.

• Galapagos fur seal ( Arctocephalus galapagoensis ), which is endemic to the Galapagos Islands and is the smallest of all fur seals.

• Juan Fernandez fur seal ( Arctocephalus philippii ), which lives on the Juan Fernandez Islands off the coast of Chile.

• New Zealand fur seal ( Arctocephalus forsteri ), which is found on the coasts and islands of New Zealand and southern Australia.

• Brown fur seal ( Arctocephalus pusillus ), which has two subspecies: the South African fur seal ( A.p.pusillus ), which lives on the coasts of South Africa and Namibia, and the Australian fur seal ( A.p.doriferus ), which lives on the coasts of southeastern Australia and Tasmania.

• South American fur seal ( Arctocephalus australis ), which is found on the coasts of South America, from Peru to Argentina, and on some islands in the Atlantic Ocean, such as the Falkland Islands and Uruguay.

• Subantarctic fur seal ( Arctocephalus tropicalis ), which breeds on islands in the southern Indian and Atlantic Oceans, such as Amsterdam Island and Gough Island.

A fur seal is a kind of eared seal
That has a thick coat of fur
They live in the northern and southern seas
And can swim and walk with a blur

Some are brown, some are gray, some are black
But they all have a chestnut underfur
They feed on fish and other marine prey
And they breed on islands with a stir

They are related to sea lions but smaller in size
And they have a long history of hunting
But now they are protected by laws and treaties
And their numbers are slowly recovering