Gray Seal Pup Button

This image shows a gray seal pup lying on cement. At birth, pups are about 3-3.5 feet long from nose to tail and weigh about 33 pounds. They have a cream-colored, natal lanugo coat that molts at 2-3 weeks old. Pups feed for about five minutes every five hours and gain weight rapidly on the high-fat milk. Pups gain about 5 pounds per day from their mother's rich milk but gain little, if any, length. | "Smithsonian" and the Smithsonian logo are registered trademarks owned by Smithsonian Instituti