Animal Corner

Discover the many amazing animals that live on our planet.

  • Home
  • A-Z Animals
  • Anatomy
  • Glossary
  • Animal Lists
    • Animal By Letter
    • Animals by Location
    • Mammals
    • Birds
    • Reptiles
    • Amphibians
  • Free Resources
    • Animal Coloring Pages
    • Animal Jokes
    • Animal Quizzes
  • Pets
    • Dog Breeds
    • Rabbit Breeds
    • Cat Breeds
    • Pet Rodents
    • Animal Care
  • Blog
You are here: Home / Animals / Galapagos Fur Seals

Galapagos Fur Seals

galapagos fur sealImage Source

Galapagos Fur Seal

The Galapagos Fur Seal (Arctocephalus galapagoensis) is the smallest of all the pinnipeds. Galapagos Fur Seals are smaller than the Galapagos Sea Lions reaching a length of 5 feet and weighing up to 68 kilograms at maturity. Galapagos Fur Seals eyes are large which helps them to hunt for squid and fish when hunting at night, avoiding sharks which are their natural predator.

The Galapagos Fur Seal breeds on the Galapagos Islands in the eastern Pacific, making it the only fur seal to breed in tropical waters.

The number of Galapagos Fur Seals successfully bred in a year is very sensitive to El Niño weather events. In the El Nino summers of 1982-1983 and 1997-1998 greatly increased infant mortality. Increased water temperature decreases the abundance of prey during these summers.

Galapagos Fur Seal Appearence

Galapagos Fur Seals coats of dark grey brown to dusky black nearly lead these animals to extinction, as hunters targeted them.

Pups are born with a smooth and silky skin to which fur develops around 6 months of age. This made them prime targets for hunters back in the 18th century.

Galapagos Fur Seals have survived from the brink of extinction, They are very shy creatures in the archipelago. The number of Fur Seals now matches around the same number of Sea Lions.

During the day Galapagos Fur Seals hide from the hot equatorial sun in shelves or caves of the rocky lava cliffs of the western islands.

 

Check out more of our Galapagos Marine Life posts!

 

More Fascinating Animals to Learn About

  • Galapagos Snakes
  • Galapagos Rice Rat
  • Galapagos Gecko
    Galapagos Gecko
  • Galapagos Mockingbird
  • Whimbrel birds
    Galapagos Whimbrel Birds
  • hoary bat
    Galapagos Hoary Bat

About Joanne Spencer

I've always been passionate about animals which led me to a career in training and behaviour. As an animal professional I'm committed to improving relationships between people and animals to bring them more happiness.

Animal Classification

Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Carnivora
Clade:Pinnipedia
Family:Otariidae
Genus:Arctocephalus
Species:A. galapagoensis
Binomial name:Arctocephalus galapagoensis

Search

Most Popular Animals

  • Zebras
  • Aquatic Warbler
  • Atlantic Dolphins
  • Trapdoor Spider
  • Giraffe
  • Meerkats
  • Timber Wolf
  • Praying Mantis
  • Huntsman Spider
  • Vampire Bat

Galapagos Islands

galapagos-islands

Animal Names Glossary

Animal Names

British Wildlife

british-wildlife

Mammals

anatomy

Dog Breeds

dog breeds

Farm Animals

Farm Animals

Best of the Blog

  • 21 Amazing Animals that live in Lakes
  • What are the Fastest Animals in the World?
  • 31 Animals with Weird and Funny Sounding Names
  • Top 15 Deadliest Animals in the World
  • Ophiophagy – Examples of animals that eat snakes
  • List of Fascinating Solitary Animals

Copyright © 2005-2022 · Animal Corner · All Rights Reserved · Affiliate Disclaimer · Privacy Policy · Animals Sitemap . About Us

AnimalCorner.org is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.