🍼 Whitecoat
Also known as: whitecoat, white coat, harp seal pup, seal pup, baby seal
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.
Whitecoat is a newborn seal pup covered in white fur. A whitecoat is a newborn seal pup in a white coat of fur. The word is most often used for harp seal pups. They are born on drifting ice in late winter, about 85 cm long. The mother nurses them for only 10 to 12 days, but on milk so rich that a pup can gain up to 20 kg.
Seal milk is extraordinarily fatty. Right after birth it holds about 23% fat, and the figure climbs steadily to more than 40%. NAMMCO puts it at roughly 12 times the fat and 25 times the protein of cow's milk. A pup is born almost without blubber, but it builds a layer quickly.
Nursing ends abruptly. By weaning a whitecoat weighs about 34 kg, and its mother leaves it. Soon the white coat starts to moult, and the moult is usually done within a few days. A silver coat with a few spots replaces it and lasts to the end of the first year. At that stage the pup is called a beater.
Compare it with other young animals. Mare's milk holds only 1.3% fat, and a foal suckles for months. A reindeer calf drinks until autumn and a moose calf is weaned in autumn. A whitecoat finishes in under two weeks.
Facts
| Animal | Harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) 1 |
|---|---|
| Duration | Nursing lasts 10–12 days; pups born late February to March 1 |
| Fat per 100 g | Milk fat from about 23% to more than 40% 2 |
| Bottle size | Weight: about 11 kg at birth, about 34 kg at weaning 1 |
| Colour | White coat, then silver “beater” pelt 1 |
How it connects to milk
🍼 Whitecoat ← feeds ← 🦭 Seal → gives → 🥛 Milk
Links
- Fed with milk by
- 🦭 Seal
- Part of
- 🤱 Who drinks milk: young animals and feeding
Frequently asked questions
Where are whitecoats born?
On drifting pack ice, mostly in late February and March. In the Front herd over 90% of pups are born between 6 and 12 March.
How fat is harp seal milk?
About 23% right after birth and more than 40% by the end of nursing. NAMMCO says it has roughly 12 times the fat of cow's milk.
How fast does a whitecoat grow?
From about 11 kg at birth to about 34 kg at weaning, in 10 to 12 days of nursing. That is a gain of up to 20 kg.
What is a beater?
The silver, lightly spotted coat that replaces the white one soon after weaning. It lasts to the end of the first year.
Is it true that a seal mother teaches her pup to swim?
No. At weaning the mother simply leaves, and the pup has to learn to feed itself.
Similar
🍼 Goat kid · 🍼 Lamb · 🍼 Buffalo calf · 🍼 Foal · 🍼 Donkey foal · 🍼 Reindeer calf
Sources
- NAMMCO. Harp seal
- Worthy G. A. J., Lavigne D. M. Post-weaning growth of the harp seal, Phoca groenlandica. NAFO Scientific Council Research Document 81/XI/163, 1981