• Question: do seals mate

    Asked by anon-193223 to Morwenna, Jamal, iainstaniland, Heidi, Emma, Carl on 10 Nov 2018.
    • Photo: Heidi Gardner

      Heidi Gardner answered on 10 Nov 2018:

      Yes! Mating season varies between the specific subspecies of seals, but it’s usually between late Spring all the way through to Autumn.

    • Photo: Carl Heron

      Carl Heron answered on 11 Nov 2018:

      It’s a yes from me (in my best X-Factor voice).

    • Photo: Emma Crawford

      Emma Crawford answered on 11 Nov 2018:

      Yes they do, and make rather cute baby seals in my opinion! You can read more here: https://www.seals-world.com/seal-reproduction/

    • Photo: Iain Staniland

      Iain Staniland answered on 12 Nov 2018:

      Yes seals mate and different species have different mating stategies. Some species mate on land and some i the water, Males in some species can mate with lots of females a year some can only mate with a few at most.

      for example elephant seals have what is termed extreme Polygyny where a larger dominant male will defend and mate with a large hareem of smaller females that come ashore to pup. see:http://www.theanimalfiles.com/glossary/delayed_implantation.html )
      Other seals, like many ice breeding seals, the males can only defend one or a few females (as the females are not grouped together) at a time so they father less pups per year.

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