The Zoochat Photographic Guide to Bears, Pinnipeds and Hyenas.

Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga angustirostris)

The range of this species extends across much of the Pacific coastline of North America, from the Aleutian Islands in the north to as far south as the coast of Baja California Sur.

Monotypic.

Photo by @PeGe

 

Southern Elephant Seal (Mirounga leonina)

The range of this species represents a circumpolar distribution throughout the Southern Ocean, extending into the southern reaches of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans as far north as the coastline of South America.

Monotypic.

Photo by @lintworm

 

LOBODONTINI


This lineage comprises 4 species within four genera:

Leopard Seal Hydrurga leptonyx

Weddell Seal Leptonychotes weddellii

Crabeater Seal Lobodon carcinophagus

Ross Seal Ommatophoca rossi

 

Leopard Seal (Hydrurga leptonyx)

The range of this species represents a circumpolar distribution throughout the coastal waters of Antarctica, with vagrant individuals recorded as far north as Argentina, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Monotypic.

Photo by @Simon Hampel

 

Weddell Seal (Leptonychotes weddellii)

The range of this species is circumpolar, and restricted to the in-shore permanent ice shelf of Antarctica.

Monotypic.

No photographs of this taxon have been uploaded to the Zoochat gallery by Zoochatters.

 

Crabeater Seal (Lobodon carcinophagus)

The range of this species is circumpolar, and restricted to the pack-ice zone of the Southern Ocean.

Monotypic.

No photographs of this taxon have been uploaded to the Zoochat gallery by Zoochatters.

 

Ross Seal (Ommatophoca rossi)

The range of this species is circumpolar, and restricted to the pack-ice zone of the Southern Ocean.

Monotypic.

No photographs of this taxon have been uploaded to the Zoochat gallery by Zoochatters.

 

PHOCINAE


This lineage comprises 10 species within seven genera:

Hooded Seal Cystophora cristata

Bearded Seal Erignathus barbatus

Grey Seal Halichoerus grypus

Ribbon Seal Histriophoca fasciata

Harp Seal Pagophilus groenlandicus

Spotted Seal Phoca largha
Harbor Seal Phoca vitulina

Caspian Seal Pusa caspica
Ringed Seal Pusa hispida
Baikal Seal Pusa sibirica

 

Hooded Seal (Cystophora cristata)

The range of this species extends across the northern Atlantic into the Arctic Ocean, from as far south as the New England coastline in the west and the Shetland islands and the northern coastline of Fennoscandia in the east, to as far north as Svalbard.

Monotypic.

Photo by @Javan Rhino

 

Bearded Seal (Erignathus barbatus)

The range of this species extends throughout the Arctic Ocean, representing a patchy but circumpolar distribution which extends as far south as Iceland and the Newfoundland coastline in the northern Atlantic, and the northern coast of Japan in the Pacific.

Two subspecies are recognised:

E. b. barbatus
E. b. nautica

Photo by @alexkant

 

Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus)

The range of this species extends across the North Atlantic and into the Baltic Sea, with the overall distribution comprising three disjunct populations; one in the northwest Atlantic coastline of North America, one in the northeast Atlantic coastline of Europe, and one in the Baltic Sea.

Two subspecies are recognised:

H. g. grypus - photo by @gulogulogulo



H. g. atlantica - photo by @Maguari



The North American population may also merit subspecific status - photo by @Kyle's Creatures

 

Ribbon Seal (Histriophoca fasciata)

The range of the species extends throughout the Arctic and Subarctic regions of the northern Pacific, with the main body of the population located in the Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk.

Monotypic.

No photographs of this taxon have been uploaded to the Zoochat gallery by Zoochatters.

 

Harp Seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus)

The range of this species extends throughout the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean, from as far west as Hudson Bay and as far south as Nova Scotia, to as far east as Severnaya Zemlya.

Two subspecies are recognised:

P. g. groenlandicus - photo by @Giant Eland



P. g. oceanicus

 

Spotted Seal (Phoca largha)

The range of this species extends through the northern Pacific Ocean, from Japan and the Korean Peninsula north to the Bering Sea and into the Arctic Ocean as far north as Wrangel Island, along with the northern and southern coastline of Alaska.

Monotypic.

Photo by @devilfish

 

Harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina)

The range of this species extends throughout the coastal waters of the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as far north as Svalbard and the Bering Sea and as far south as North Carolina, Baja California and northern Japan.

Five subspecies are recognised:

P. v. concolor - photo by @bugboiben



P. v. mellonae
P. v. richardsi - photo by @ThylacineAlive



P. v. stejnegeri
P. v. vitulina - photo by @vogelcommando

 

Caspian Seal (Pusa caspica)

The range of this species is restricted to the Caspian Sea.

Monotypic.

Photo by @devilfish

 

Ringed Seal (Pusa hispida)

The range of this species extends throughout the Arctic Ocean, into the Bering Sea and Okhotsk Sea as far south as the northern coast of Japan in the Pacific, and throughout the North Atlantic coasts of Greenland and Scandinavia as far south as Newfoundland.

Five subspecies are recognised:

P. h. hispida - photo by @Javan Rhino



P. h. ochotensis - photo by @devilfish



P. h. botnica - photo by @Javan Rhino



P. h. ladogensis
P. h. saimensis

 

Baikal Seal (Pusa sibirica)

The range of this species is restricted to Lake Baikal, Siberia.

Monotypic.

Photo by @Maguari

 

So, that's the various groups of pinnipeds finished; there are a fair few species for which we are lacking photographs, some of which are highly unlikely to be added to the gallery in the foreseeable future but I reckon there are a few which potentially could be added!

Galápagos Fur Seal Arctocephalus galapagoensis
Antarctic Fur Seal Arctocephalus gazella
Juan Fernández Fur Seal Arctocephalus philippii
Mediterranean Monk Seal Monachus monachus
Weddell Seal Leptonychotes weddellii
Crabeater Seal Lobodon carcinophagus
Ross Seal Ommatophoca rossi
Ribbon Seal Histriophoca fasciata

 

HYAENIDAE



This family comprises two lineages; these are as follows:

HYAENINAE - 3 species within two genera

PROTELINAE - 1 species