Distinguishing features of this earless seal include square fore flippers and thick bristles on its muzzle. Adults are greyish-brown in colour, darker on the back; rarely with a few faint spots … See more

Bearded seals give birth in the spring. In the Canadian Arctic, seal pupping occurs in May. In Svalbard, bearded seals reach sexual maturity at 5 or 6 years of age. Further south, in Alaska, most pups are born in late April. Pups are born on small drifting ice floes in … See more

Bearded seal fossils have been found to be as old as the early to mid Pleistocene. These early fossils were found in northern regions like England, … See more

Bearded seals are extant in Arctic and subarctic regions. In the Pacific region, they extend from the Chukchi Sea in the Arctic, south into the Bering Sea where they span from See more

Primarily benthic, bearded seals feed on a variety of small prey found along the ocean floor, including clams, squid, and fish. Their whiskers … See more

The vocalizations produced by the bearded seal are very unique, possibly because their trachea is different from that of other Northern Pacific phocids. A majority of the rings … See more

On March 28, 2008, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service initiated a status review under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to determine … See more