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The Status Of Seals In The Gulf Of Mexico With A Record Of Feral Otariid Seals Off The United States Gulf Coast, Gordon Gunter
The Status Of Seals In The Gulf Of Mexico With A Record Of Feral Otariid Seals Off The United States Gulf Coast, Gordon Gunter
Gulf and Caribbean Research
The only seal native to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean area is the West Indian seal (family Phocidae). It is tan on the upper surface and a yellowish white underneath. It is now extinct or nearly so. Two seals were reported in Louisiana near the mouth of the Mississippi in January 1966. Photographs of one animal taken from a helicopter showed an otariid seal. In late June a light colored otariid seal began to reside on the buoys of the ship channel leading into Mobile Bay. It stayed there about two and a half weeks. The animal was …