How Long Is a Baby Seal?

Sea enthusiasts looking to learn more about the beautiful creatures might be wondering about the size of a baby seal. In comparison to their very large parents, they are quite small.

A baby seal is generally going to be about three feet long. The baby will grow fairly quickly during its first couple of weeks of life, which is the time period when the baby feeds on the mother's milk. The standard time period for this stage is 12 days, although it can vary slightly. Clearly, the feeding in this manner helps to promote the healthy development of the baby seal.

Most seals will eventually grow to be quite large. We are defining quite large as between five and six and a half feet long, with approximate weights of 375 to 400 pounds. In comparison to humans, seals are around the same length. However, they weigh significantly more than an average human being.

Life of the Baby Seal

Birth

Mother seals give birth to one baby seal, known as a pup, at a time. Therefore, the mother can concentrate on that one baby only. The pup does not have to share milk with anyone else, and the animal has the mother all to itself! These babies are generally born in February.

Another amazing fact is that while the baby is nursing, the mother will not eat anything. In fact, she loses approximately seven pounds per day during this time period. You might find that strange or unusual. However, think about how wonderful it is that this mother is willing to sacrifice her own food needs in order to take care of her baby. It truly is a miracle of nature. Once this period of feeding is over, the mother leaves the pup to fend for itself. She leaves the baby in order to go and mate.

Development

The baby is scared when the mother leaves it, which is no great surprise. The babies will cry and flounder about for awhile. The baby will stop having a fit after a few days because it will want to conserve its body fat.

When a baby seal is born, its fur coat is white. Soon after being abadoned though, the grey fur begins to come in underneath.

Although the mothers care for their babies very well for the first two weeks or so of the baby's life, and no matter how long the baby seal is at birth, approximately 30 percent of the babies die within their first year of life. They cannot swim until they are around two months old; therefore, they often get eaten by bigger animals such as the polar bears wandering through the ice.

As you can see, that three foot long baby seal is not so big that it can defend itself from all of the elements of nature!