Hooded Seal
| Hooded Seal | |||
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| ズキンアザラシ | |||
| Character Data | |||
| Romaji | Zukin'azarashi
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| Debut | Kemono Friends (2015 Game) | ||
| Animal Data | |||
| Scientific Name | Cystophora cristata
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| Distribution | North Atlantic
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| Diet | Carnivore
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| Avg. Lifespan | 30-35 years
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| Read More | Hooded seal
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| Conservation | 
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| Hooded Seal | Manga | Nexon Game |
The Hooded Seal is a type of pinniped Friend that appeared in the original Kemono Friends mobile game.
Appearance
Hooded Seal has gray hair with a very large bang in the middle. Said bang also fades into black. At the sides, many strands of white hair pop out to represent whiskers. She has red irides with highlights as well as two 'bands'. The highlights indicate her animal species is not extinct. She wears a black capelet with a hood with white outlining. It is tied with a red ribbon. She has a small gray and black top, and a short skirt, both of which have a pattern seen on the real hooded seal. The top is tied, and the skirt has a red string tied into a ribbon. She has a black and gray striped band around her thighs, and gray-into-black socks with no footwear. Like all Friends, she exhibits traits of the species of animal she once was alongside her human body. This, in her case, is represented by seal flippers on her head (of which the hood has holes for) and the hooded seal's tail.
Series Appearances
| Media | Role | First Appearance | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Nexon Game | ↪ Playable character | |
| 2015 | Kemono Friends: Welcome to Japari Park! | ↪ Background character | Ch16 |
In Real Life
The Hooded Seal (Cystophora cristata) is a large phocid (earless seal) native to central and western North Atlantic, specifically ranging from Svalbard in the east to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the west.
They are massive animals, with males averaging 2.6 meters (8 ft 6 in) long and weighing 300–410 kg (660–900 lbs.), and females averaging 2.03 meters (6 ft 8 in) long and weighing 145–300 kg (320–661 lbs.). There is strong sexual dimorphism in the species, with the males being significantly larger than the females, as well as the males having a strange inflatable "bladder septum" on their head. The fur color is silvery gray, with scattered with dark, irregular marks. The head is darker than the rest of the body, and without the scattered marks.
A carnivorous species, the Hooded Seal's diet mainly consists of amphipods (crustaceans), euphausiids (krill), and various fish. Favored fish include Atlantic argentine, capelin, Greenland halibut, cod, herring, and redfish. When compared to other phocid species, Hooded Seals consume three times the proportion of redfish. Percentages of capelin were similar in relation to closely related species. Capelin is considered a more common choice of sustenance during the winter season.
Hooded seals live primarily on drifting pack ice floes and in deep waters of the Arctic Ocean and North Atlantic. Some will drift to warmer regions during the year, though their best survival rate is in colder climates. They can be found on four distinct areas with pack ice: near Jan Mayen Island (northeast of Iceland); off Labrador and northeastern Newfoundland; the Gulf of St. Lawrence; and the Davis Strait (off midwestern Greenland). Males tend to congregate around areas of complex seabed, such as Baffin Bay, Davis Strait, and the Flemish cap. Females tend to concentrate their habitats primarily on shelf areas, such as the Labrador Shelf.
During a single mating season, males are known to have several mates, leading to the hypothesis that Hooded Seals are polygynous. Some males will defend and mate with a single female for an extended period, while other males tend to mate with multiple females for shorter periods of time. Females will whelp a single pup between late March and early April. They will then molt from June to August. Hooded Seals will disperse after molting to feed in late summer and autumn. The actual mating season takes place in winter.
Pups are about1 meter (3 ft 3 in) long and 24 kilograms (53 lb.) at birth. They are born on ice floes from mid-March to early April with a predeveloped layer of blubber. The pups have a slate blue-grey coat with a cream-colored underbelly, which they will molt after around 14 months. Nursing lasts for an average of only 4 days, the shortest lactation period of any mammal. During this time, the pup will double in size, gaining around 7 kilograms (15 lb.) per day This is possible because the milk that they drink has a fat content of 60%.
The Hooded Seal is known for its distinct inflatable nasal cavity. Only males possess this sac, and they start to develop around the age of four years. The hood will inflate during the initial dive and will deflate and re-inflate as the seal swims. This is for acoustic signaling, used for communication. In sexually mature males, a pinkish balloon-like nasal membrane will emerge from the left nostril to further aid it in attracting a mate. When the membrane is shaken, it is able to produce various sounds and calls depending on whether the seal is underwater or on land.
Prior to the 1940's, adult Hooded Seals were primarily hunted for their leather and oil deposits, whereas the pups were hunted for their soft pelts. The overall populations vary; in the Northwest, the populations are stable or increasing, whereas the Northeast populations have decreased by 85–90% within the last 60 years. Conservation practices brought by international cooperation, alongside the creation of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), have lead to significant population increases. Special licenses are now required to hunt Hooded Seals, and each license is set a quota. The quota for allowable catches is currently 10,000 seals per year.
Trivia
- The general name Cystophora comes from a Greek word meaning “bladder-bearer”, referring of course to the Hooded Seal’s hood.
- Hooded Seals are generally more territorial than other seal species and can become aggressive when in defense mode.
- Due to the unique slate blue-grey coat, baby Hooded Seals are sometimes called "bluebacks".
- The Hooded Seal is protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972.
References
1. Wikipedia Page 2. Kovacs, Kit. "Hooded Seal". Noerwegian Polar Institute. 3. "Hooded Seal (Cystophora cristata)". National Marine Fisheries Service. 5 October 2022. 4. Andersen, J. M.; Wiersma, Y. F.; Stenson, G. B.; Hammill, M. O.; Rosing-Asvid, A.; Skern-Maurizen, M. (2012). "Habitat selection by hooded seals (Cystophora cristata) in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean" (PDF). ICES Journal of Marine Science (free full text). 70: 173–185. doi:10.1093/icesjms/fss133. 5. Iverson, SJ; Oftedal, OT; Bowen, WD; Boness, DJ; Sampugna, J (1995). "Prenatal and postnatal transfer of fatty acids from mother to pup in the hooded seal". Journal of Comparative Physiology B. 165 (1): 1–12. doi:10.1007/bf00264680 6. Kovacs, K.M. (2016). "Cystophora cristata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T6204A45225150. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T6204A45225150.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.