Blueback Hooded Seal Pup
Cystophora cristata

Canon AE-1, Kodachrome 64 film, ASA 64

\"Hooded Seal,\" Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) is an arctic pinniped found only in the central and western North Atlantic ranging from Svalbard in the east to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the west.Pups are about 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) long at birth and weigh about 24 kilograms (53 lb). They are born on the ice from mid-March to early April with a well-developed blubber layer and having shed their pre-natal coat. They are born with a slate blue-grey coat (giving them the name \"blueback\"), with a pale cream color on the belly, which they will moult after about 14 months. Nursing of the pup lasts for an average of only 4 days, the shortest lactation period of any mammal, during which the pup doubles in size, gaining around 7 kg/day. This is possible because the milk that they drink has a fat content of 60%.The female pup will mature between ages 3 and 6, whereas the male pup will mature between ages 5 and 7.

Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada

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