Cape fur seal
| Brown fur seal | |
|---|---|
| Hauling-out on the Hippolyte Rocks off the east coast of Tasmania | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Pinnipedia |
| Family: | Otariidae |
| Subfamily: | |
| Genus: | |
| Species: | A. pusillus |
| Binomial name | |
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Arctocephalus pusillus (Schreber, 1775) |
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| Subspecies | |
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| Distribution of the brown fur seal, dark blue: breeding colonies; light blue: nonbreeding individuals | |
The brown fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus), also known as the Cape fur seal, South African fur seal and the Australian fur seal is a species of fur seal.
The brown fur seal is the largest and most robust fur seal. It has a large and broad head with a pointed snout that may be flat or upturned slightly. They have external ear flaps (pinnae) and their whiskers (vibrissae) are long, and may extend backward past the pinnae, especially in adult males. The foreflippers are covered with sparse hair over about three-quarters of their length. The hindflippers are short relative to the large body, with short, fleshy tips on the digits. The size and weight of the brown fur seal depends on the subspecies. The Southern African subspecies is on average slightly larger than the Australian subspecies. Males of the African subspecies (A. p. pusillus) are 2.3 metres (7.5 ft) in length on average and weigh from 200–300 kilograms (440–660 lb). Females are smaller, averaging 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) in length and weighing an average of 120 kilograms (260 lb). Males of the Australian subspecies (A. p. doriferus) are 2–2.2 metres (6.6–7.2 ft) in length and weigh 190–280 kilograms (420–620 lb). Females are 1.2–1.8 metres (3.9–5.9 ft) length and weigh 36–110 kilograms (79–243 lb).
Adult male brown fur seals are dark gray to brown, with a darker mane of short, coarse hairs and a light belly, while adult females are light brown to gray, with a light throat and darker back and belly. The foreflippers of the fur seal are dark brown to black. Pups are born black and molt to gray with a pale throat within three to five months. The skull of the African subspecies has a larger crest between the mastoid process and the jugular process of the exoccipital.
The African fur seal lives around the southern and southwestern coast of Africa from Cape Cross in Namibia and around the Cape of Good Hope to Black Rocks near Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province. The Australian fur seal lives in Bass Strait, at four islands off Victoria in southeastern Australia and five islands off Tasmania. Brown fur seals prefer to haul out and breed on rocky islands, rock ledges and reefs, and pebble and boulder beaches. However, some large colonies can be found on sandy beaches. Fur seals spend most of the year at sea, but are never too far from land. They have been recorded 160 km from land, but this is not common.
The African fur seal’s diet is made of up to 70% fish, 20% squid and 2% crab. Also eaten are other crustaceans, cephalopods and sometimes birds. In rare instances they have even been documented attacking and eating sharks. A recent incident occurred off Cape Point, South Africa, where a large male was observed attacking and killing five blue sharks between 1 and 1.4 metres long. Observers concluded that the seal likely killed the sharks to eat the fish rich contents of their stomachs as well as their livers as a source of energy. The Australian fur seal mostly eats squid, octopus, fish and lobsters. The brown fur seal dives for its food. The African subspecies can dive as deep as 204m and for as long as 7.5 minutes. The Australian subspecies generally feeds at lower depths, diving on average 120m and can reach as deep as 200m.
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Wikipedia