📸 PhotoPhoto: M. Boylan · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons Source
Northern Fur Seal
Callorhinus ursinus (Northern Fur Seal · キタオットセイ)
🇰🇷 Class II endangered wildlife (Korea)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 A male's length of 2.13 m is slightly taller than a doorway (about 2 m) (Comparison).
- 💡 A female's weight of 40–50 kg equals two or three 20 kg bags of rice (Comparison).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The northern fur seal is a pinniped living in the North Pacific, Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, and East Sea, coming ashore mainly during the summer breeding season.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Males weigh over 180 kg and measure about 2.1 m in length, whereas females weigh 40–50 kg and measure about 1.4 m, making males much larger.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It feeds on squid and small schooling fish such as anchovies, herring, and capelin, diving to an average depth of about 175 m. It breeds in June–July, with females giving birth to one pup at a time.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
It is designated as Class II endangered wildlife (Korea) in the National List of Species of Korea.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List VU (2015) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/3590/45224953
- • 멸종위기 야생생물 Ⅱ급 — 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000053312 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000053312
- • IUCN Red List category VU — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • Korean protection status: Class II endangered wildlife (Korea)
- • mammaldiversity.org — 1005903
- • iucnredlist.org — 45224953
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000053312 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000053312
- • wikidata.org — Q7966
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Callorhinus ursinus and harem.jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Callorhinus ursinus
- • fisheries.noaa.gov — northern-fur-seal
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Margot Michaud · CC0 1.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.