Common/Harbour Seal Phoca vitulina

Common Seals are resident around the coasts of the north Atlantic (including Baltic and North Seas) and the north Pacific. They are also called Harbour Seals (spelled Harbor in the US) since, although they spend most of their time at sea, they rarely venture more than a mile from coastal waters.

Common/Harbour Seals have a round head and small forehead finishing in a dog-like muzzle. The other seal around UK coasts, the Grey Seal, is significantly larger (especially males) and has a more cone-shaped, aerodynamic head (see link below). More difficult to see, the Common Seal's nostrils typically form a slight "V" or heart-shape, whereas the Grey Seal has more parallel nostrils.

In the UK, they are found mainly along north-western Scotland and off eastern England (Lincolnshire and northern Norfolk).

True seals have claws at the end of their front feet ("arms"), unlike fur seals and sealions, and they can't raise themselves up on their flippers so are more cumbersome on land.

Juvenile Common Seals.