Sea hare, or Lahtak

One of the largest species of seal inhabitingregion of the Arctic Ocean, is a sea hare, or Lahtak. It lives in almost all the Arctic seas and adjacent waters. Lakhtak can be found on the east coast of the East Siberian Sea, on the Chukchi Sea, at Cape Borrow, in the waters of Spitsbergen, on the Northern Earth. In addition, these animals live in the shallows of the Kara, Barents and White seas. Lakhtak chose the greater part of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and reached even the coast of Southern Sakhalin. It can be found in the waters of the North Atlantic, as well as in the western and eastern shores of Greenland. Individuals sometimes, not voluntarily, migrate even to the area of ​​the North Pole, where they enter on ice floes.

What does a sea hare look like? He has a rather massive body, against which the head and fins seem small. The length of adult representatives of this species ranges from 2.2 to 3 m, depending on the habitat, and its weight can be up to 360 kg. Lahtak has a slightly extended muzzle and a short neck. Adult individuals are distinguished by a monochromatic brownish gray back, which at the bottom becomes light gray. Many individuals along the back have a peculiar belt - a dark strip with fuzzy contours. Females and males have the same color.

The sea hare has a clearly pronounced feature,which distinguishes it from other seals - large thick and long labial vibrissae (distinctive mustache) of a smooth and even shape. The rest of the scalp is coarse and comparatively sparse. Newborn seals have a gray-brown soft hairline, which resembles a fur coat. On the head, the animals have whitish spots. The third finger on the front fins is the longest. The teeth are rather small, which leads to their rapid erasure. That is why in adults of individuals from the gums they are insignificant.

Some seasonal long migrations of the sealthe sea hare does not commit. Basically, these animals are considered sedentary, although for insignificant distances move constantly. Depending on the area they can move either actively or passively (on ice). On ice floes, they are usually located singly, in rare cases their number reaches up to three individuals. The seal does not jump to the ice, it climbs on it with jerks, which is carried out with the help of blows by the rear fins on the water. In the autumn period, you can observe large coastal rookeries.

The sea hare preys on the bottom and bottomanimals, mainly at a depth of 60 meters. There are rare cases when seals descend to a depth of 150 meters. The diet depends on the habitat. Over 70 species of animals become food sources for seals of this species, including crustaceans, mollusks, worms, various fish. In most cases, the diet is mixed food.

Mating of adults takes place on ice floesafter the lactation period. Pregnancy takes almost a year. The puppy occurs from March to May. Those seals that live in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, it ends a month earlier, and in the Canadian archipelago and the Bering Sea - only in May. Newborn sea hare covered with thick dark-brown fur, which lasts no more than three weeks. The length of his body is 120 cm. His mother feeds her baby only 4 weeks with her milk.

By its nature, this kind of seal is a fairly good-natured animal, not showing any aggression. What is surprising, males do not conflict even in the mating season.

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