🦭 Seal
Also known as: hooded seal, harp seal, Cystophora cristata
A marine mammal that feeds its pup very fatty milk: hooded seal milk is about 60% fat, and nursing lasts only 4 days.
A seal is a flippered marine mammal that lives in cold and temperate seas and gives birth on ice or on shore. Seals produce some of the fattiest milk of any mammal: hooded seal milk is about 60% fat, and nursing lasts only 4 days — the shortest lactation of all mammals.
Over those 4 days a hooded seal pup drinks about 10 litres of milk a day and gains roughly 30% of its birth weight daily — about 7 kg. According to NAMMCO, the pup weighs about 24 kg at birth and 42 kg at the end of nursing. The mother hardly eats during this time and lives off her own fat reserves.
True seals (there are 19 species) usually nurse the same way — briefly and on reserves: most for 2 to 4 weeks, and the Mediterranean monk seal for up to 4 months. The harp seal nurses its pup for about 12 days, and the pup gains about 2.3 kg a day. Sea lions and fur seals behave differently: they nurse for months or even years, leaving to feed for up to 23 days at a time.
Pinniped milk contains 25–60% fat versus about 4% in cow's or human milk, 11% protein on average, and only 35–65% water. Many species have almost no lactose. Hooded seal milk provides 5.9 kcal per gram.
Why it matters to you. Seal milk is not a food product: seals are not milked, and in the US all marine mammals are protected by law. But the seal does debunk a popular myth that whales have the fattiest milk: baleen whale milk is 30–50% fat, while hooded seal milk is about 60%. NAMMCO calls hooded seal milk the richest of any mammal.
Facts
| Region | North Atlantic and Arctic (hooded seal, harp seal) 2 |
|---|---|
| Duration | Lactation 4 days in the hooded seal, ≈ 12 days in the harp seal 1 |
| Yield | ≈ 10 L of milk a day drunk by a hooded seal pup 1 |
How it connects to milk
Links
- What milk it gives
- 🥛 Seal milk
- What it gives
- 🥛 Milk
- Feeds with milk
- 🍼 Whitecoat
- Belongs to
- 🔬 Mammal
- What it contains
- 🧪 Milk fat
- Part of
- 🐾 Other mammals
- Similar and different
- 🐋 Whale, 🐋 Whale, 🥛 Whale milk
Frequently asked questions
Which animal has the fattiest milk?
Among the record holders is the hooded seal: about 60% fat. NAMMCO calls its milk the richest of any mammal.
Is it true that whales have the fattiest milk?
No. Baleen whale milk is 30–50% fat, while hooded seal milk is about 60%.
How long does a seal nurse its pup?
The hooded seal only about 4 days, the harp seal about 12 days, most true seals 2–4 weeks. Sea lions and fur seals nurse for months.
How fast does a seal pup put on weight?
A hooded seal pup gains about 7 kg a day and almost doubles its weight in 4 days — from 24 to 42 kg.
Do people drink seal milk?
No. Seals are wild animals; they are not milked, and their milk is needed only by their pups.
What to read next
- 🥛 Seal milk — The fattiest milk known.
- 🍼 Whitecoat — A whitecoat is a newborn harp seal pup in its white coat, nursed for only 10 to 12 days on milk with over 40% fat.
- 🧪 Milk fat — ~3.5% in cow's milk.
Similar
🐋 Whale · 🐈 Cat · 🦔 Hedgehog · 🦘 Kangaroo · 🐕 Dog · 🐂 Musk ox
Sources
- Avery J. P., Zinn S. A. Extraordinary diversity of the pinniped lactation triad. Animal Frontiers 13(3), 2023
- NOAA Fisheries — Hooded Seal
- NOAA Fisheries — Harp Seal
- NAMMCO — Hooded seal
- Oftedal O. T. Lactation in whales and dolphins: evidence of divergence between baleen- and toothed-species. J Mammary Gland Biol Neoplasia 2(3):205–230, 1997