Guadalupe Fur Seal

Fascinating facts about the Guadalupe Fur Seal

• By the late 1800s only a few dozen Guadalupe fur seals remained after intensive sealing. The population began to recover, reaching about 10,000 individuals by the late 1990s. A later survey in 2013 counted between 34,000 and 44,000 animals after decades of protection, which is roughly one-fifth of the numbers thought to exist before hunting. This growth shows the species has rebounded dramatically from near-extinction.
• Intensive 19th-century hunting drove the Guadalupe fur seal to presumed extinction, and no breeding colonies were known for decades. In 1954 a small group was discovered living in a cave on Isla Guadalupe, confirming the species was still alive. That cave remains the sole location where the seals reproduce today, making the island critical for their survival. All other historic rookeries have disappeared, so protection of this site is essential.
• The Guadalupe fur seal belongs to the eight-species genus Arctocephalus, which includes fur seals found throughout the Southern Hemisphere. Within this group it occupies the most northerly part of the range, breeding on islands off the coast of Baja California. Its status as the northernmost member distinguishes it from relatives such as the southern fur seal and the Antarctic fur seal.
• Males can reach about seven feet and over 400 pounds, while females stay near five feet and roughly 110 pounds, a striking size gap. This pronounced size difference makes the species strongly sexually dimorphic.
• When hunting, they can plunge to a maximum of 250 feet (76 metres) to chase squid and fish in relatively shallow water. Their diet consists of squid, mackerels and lanternfish.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Guadalupe Fur Seal

In the kelp forests and rocky shores of the Pacific, the Guadalupe Fur Seal glides effortlessly, its sleek, chestnut-brown coat glistening in the sunlight as it navigates the turbulent waters with a fluid, almost ethereal, motion. With each powerful stroke of its flippers, it propels itself through the waves, its large eyes watchful and alert as it searches for the abundant fish and squid that sustain it in this rich, marine ecosystem. As it hauls itself onto the shore, its agility and flexibility are revealed, its supple body twisting and turning with ease as it claims its place among the rocky outcroppings and sandy beaches of its island domain.

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