Today, Jupiter is allowed: to be lazy, to frolic around and to eat a double portion of goodies. Our male spotted seal, affectionately called Jup by the keepers, is celebrating his first 5-year anniversary. This seal with the name of the chief ancient Roman god is unique: he is the first representative of Phoca largha species who was conceived, born and raised successfully in a sea enclosure.
Spotted, or largha seal is a member of the family Phocidae, or true seals, and a close relative to harbor seal. Larghas are distributed in the Pacific Ocean from the Yellow Sea in the south to the Chuckchi Sea in the north. The species was first described by the famous Russian of the German origin biologist and explorer Peter Simon Pallas in 1811. Its binomial name consists of the Latin phoca (seal) and largha (the name it was called by the local people of Kamchatka).
Spotted seals are of a medium size and build. Adult males are 150-170 cm and females, 140-160 cm long. Conspicuously plump adults can weigh up to 150 kg or even more in the autumn and winter.
The Peter the Great Bay is one of the southernmost areas where larghas occur all the year round. Scientists consider that the species have lived here for the last 5,000-7,000 years. The local population has been studied since the beginning of the 1980s, after the Far Eastern Marine Reserve was founded.
Almost all spotted seals in the Peter the Great Bay are born on the islands of the Rimsky-Korsakov Archipelago. Unlike other populations of the species, local larghas very rarely, almost never give birth to their pups on the ice. The newborns have an almost white natal coat (lanugo) and are often called ‘whitecoats’, similar to the pups of harp seals. Within one to two weeks, this white fir molts giving way to their adult coat. Later, seals will molt once a year. The adult coloration is generally pale silver-grey with dark oval spots. The spot pattern is individual and does not change with time.
Our five-year-old Jupiter is already considered an adult by seal standards. He is naturally curious and quick-minded. Jup loves eating and playing with a trainer. He is a charming macho, loudly growling with a low, deep sound, but he is also fond of hugs, just like a child. Spotted seals live more than 30 years in the wild, with the maximum recorded lifespan of 36 years. We are giving him a birthday fish “cake” as a present with our wishes to live long, shine bright and bring joy to the world!