Hooded seal: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

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

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

Where does the hooded seal live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the hooded seal in 10 countries and territories across Europe and North America.

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 hooded seal endangered?

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

What kind of animal is the hooded seal?

The hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) is a mammal in the order Carnivora and the family Phocidae, genus Cystophora. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the hooded seal

The hooded seal or bladdernose seal (Cystophora cristata) is a large phocid found only in the central and western North Atlantic, ranging from Svalbard in the east to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the west. The seals are typically silver-grey or white in color, with black spots that vary in size covering most of the body. Hooded seal pups are known as "blue-backs" because their coats are blue-grey on the back with whitish bellies. This coat is shed after 14 months of age when the pups molt. It is the only species in the genus Cystophora.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Hooded seal (revision 1378379798), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q214287 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).