Two Harbour Seals and one Grey Seal

The two seals on picture to the left are harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and the one to the rightis the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus)

The two seal species that usually can be seen on Icelandic shores are the Harbour Seal an the Grey Seal. The two seals on picture to the left are Harbour Seals (Phoca vitulina) and the one to the right is the Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus). These were recently photographed by a MFRI´s biologist from our Hvammstangi centre; Eric de Santos close to Illugastaðir, a farm on the Vatnsnes peninsula in NW Iceland, a popular place for seal watching. The harbour seal is more commonly seen close to where people live and frequently seen close to the shore, whereas the larger grey seal tends to be less common where human presence is frequent.

The colour difference between these two species is often difficult to see, as there is much variation in colour within each species, but harbour seals tend to be lighter in colour than grey seals. Distinguishing harbour seals from grey seals is often easiest by considering the size because grey seals are larger—especially the bull grey seal, which is much larger than any harbour seal—and by the shape of the head. Harbour seals have a smaller snout that is more pronounced and separate from the forehead, like a dog ‘s snout. Grey seals—sometimes called horseheads—have a longer snout that slopes in a nearly straight line from the top of the forehead to the end of the snout.