Grey seal
Amazing fact
A newborn grey seal is covered in long, creamy white fur.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
A newborn grey seal is covered in long, creamy white fur.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Grey seal
- Scientific name
- Halichoerus grypus
- Japanese name
- ハイイロアザラシ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Carnivora
- Family
- Phocidae
- Genus
- Halichoerus
Where the name “Grey seal” comes from
Its scientific name means hooked-nose sea pig.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebHow the Grey seal lives
It often feeds together with other seals. It usually swallows small fish whole underwater. It brings large fish to the surface, holds them in its front flippers and eats them in small pieces. When it is not foraging, it spends its time on the coast.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Range
- The North Atlantic to the subarctic
Where the Grey seal has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ハイイロアザラシ
- 简体中文
- 灰海豹
- 繁體中文
- 灰海豹
- 한국어
- 회색물범
- Español
- Foca gris
- Français
- Phoque gris
- Deutsch
- Kegelrobbe
- Português (Brasil)
- Foca-cinzenta
- Italiano
- Foca grigia
- العربية
- فقمة رمادية
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Anjing laut abu-abu
- Tiếng Việt
- Hải cẩu xám
- Русский
- Длинномордый тюлень
- Türkçe
- Boz fok
- ไทย
- แมวน้ำสีเทา
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 鳥羽水族館 — ハイイロアザラシChecked: 2026-11-04
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Halichoerus grypusChecked: 2026-11-06
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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