Harp seal: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the harp seal lives – recorded in 10 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Pagophilus groenlandicus
Group	Seals, sea lions & walrus
Status	Near threatened (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	10 countries
Continents	Europe, North America
Class	Mammal
Order	Carnivora
Family	Phocidae

Where does the harp seal live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the harp seal in 10 countries and territories across Europe and North America. Wikidata gives its range as: Greenland.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the harp seal endangered?

The harp seal’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Near threatened” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the harp seal?

The harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) is a mammal in the order Carnivora and the family Phocidae, genus Pagophilus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the harp seal

The harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus), also known as the saddleback seal or Greenland seal, is a species of earless seal, or true seal, native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean. Originally in the genus Phoca with a number of other species, it was reclassified into the monotypic genus Pagophilus in 1844. In Greek, its scientific name translates to "Greenlandic ice-lover", and its taxonomic synonym, Phoca groenlandica translates to "Greenlandic seal".

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Harp seal (revision 1376148513), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q209324 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).