HARP SEAL

1.       Harp Seal is.

Story of the Seal

Number of the seals that lives in the North Atlantic of Canada is about 6million. They move to south from the north around February looking for food and move back up to north around May, when it is getting hot. During this movement they eat large portions of the codfishes, mackerels, herrings, shrimps, salmons and lobsters etc. And by this ecosystem of sea world has been destructed and it also damages the livelihoods of the fishermen who live in the North Atlantic area. Government of the Canada had to come to conclusion of controlling the number of seals increasing by permitting people to hunt 20 to 30 thousand seals per year since 1995.

Harp Seal

Size: Full grown male is average of 169cm and the full grown female is average of 162cm which is little smaller than the male.

Weights of the seal is average of 85 to 180kg, and during breeding season, full grown seals weights about average of 135kg which gets little heavier than normal season. Average length of life is 35 years and over.

Breeding: Mother seals birth young ones on top of the ice around middle of February to beginning of the March. Young seal’s sizes are average of 85cm and weights around 11kg. Colors at the birth are kind of yellow but it changes to be white soon enough. So the baby seals are called ‘White Coat’. This White Coat (Young Harp Seal) gains average of 3kg each day which they are one of the fastest growing mammalian. When they reach the 3 to 4 weeks old, their hair gets shorter and black spots start to show in their body. Seals at this stage are called Beater Seal. Seal that is 1 to 5 years old are called Bedlamer, and harp shape spots gets clear at this stage. Harp Seals become adult when they reach 4 to 6 years old and at this time you can see their harp shape spots very clearly.

Habitation: Harp Seals are usually lives around the North Pole and the ocean round the north poles. They are mostly found in the White Sea which located in north part of the Russia, and around the Greenland and the North Atlantic Oceans of the Newfoundland in east side of the Canada. These Seals stays around east side of the Canada during the winters, and move north toward the glacier in Greenland during the summer. They shed around April and at this time they usually lose about 20% of their body weights.

Number of the Seal and the Replacement Yield

Numbers of the seal are approximately counted with data based on the birth rates of the young ones and the ages when they captured or pregnant rates of the females etc. Out of these data, the birth rate which is replacement yields are very important guide line that used to judge the numbers of the seals to capture to maintain the population of the seal. These researches are normally done by the visual researches using pictures etc.

Harp Seal is the one of the most populated breed around the North Atlantic Oceans of the Newfoundland in east side of the Canada and has been used as meat and oils for many years.

2. Excellence of the Harp Seal Oil

Seal Oil is the superior source of Omega-3 compare other fish oils in many ways.

Fish oils contains only minimum of the DPA which as important as the EPA and DHA. But the Seal Oil has about 10 times of DPA compare to fish oils.

The facts that the 1/3 of the fatty acid from the Omega-3 is made with DPA, caught the interests of scientists from the France and Japan. Research team of the Tokyo Medical and Dental University has been reported that the out of all the effects of EPA, the blood cell transition is occurring through the DPA, and DPA helps the prevents of fat deposits in the artery through this process. Based on the research, DPA has about 10 to 20 times stronger effects than EPA on this function. These kinds of DPA can be intake only from the Seal Oil, out of all the natural sources.

Source supplier of DPA, beside the Seal Oil is the mother’s milk and the mother’s milk is essential for developing the infant’s vision and the mentality etc. Recent studies showed that the lack of DPA and Omega-3 fatty acids can cause the lagging ability of the build the vision power and the nerve systems.

When the most omega-3 from the fish oil is not match with mother’s milk, Seal Oil’s fatty acid’s elements are closer to the mother’s milk. Also, the Seal Oil has more of the absorbing power to human body than the common fish oil.

Contains of the Omega-3 from the Seal Oil is about 20 to 25%, which is higher than fish oils and it makes the Seal Oil excellent source supplier for Omega-3. (Most common omega-3 from fish oil is from the Salmon, and only 1, 2% of the salmon oil is the omega-3. But the Seal Oil contains over 24% of Omega-3 which make about 20 times differences). And also, most fish oil contains high cholesterol but, Seal oil contains almost no cholesterol.

Most of the fish oil has known to contain almost none or very little of DPA which is most valuable elements of the Omega-3. DPA plays the important roles in removing the plaque and softens the walls of the artery.

The reason of the Seal Oil is better nutrient source than fish oil doesn’t stops here. Fish oil is made with molecular structure that is easy to oxidize, but the Seal Oil doesnt oxidizes easy which proven by Nalka and Davids research.

Also, the Seal Oil contains the large amount of Vitamin-E, Selenium and the antioxidant which prevents the bad odor caused by the oxidation. The substances that developed while oxidation can be the cause of the many diseases and the intakes of the antioxidant had become necessary. Many healthy food markets are selling the antioxidant products, now days.

From the researches that held about 10 years ago, the people from the Siorapaluk in Greenland had 10 to 20 times more of Selenium in their blood than Europeans or Americans. It shows that people from Greenland gain their health by the special eating habits.

3. Elements comparison

(Lipids, fatty acid classification)                         Fat %

Total Saturates (TS) /Saturated Fatty Acid

18.20

Total Unsaturates (TU)/ Unsaturated Fatty Acid

81.80

*Monounsaturates/ Highly Unsaturated Fatty Acid

54.10

*Polyunsaturates/ Highly Unsaturated Fatty Acid

27.70

EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid)

6.15

DPA (Docosapentaenoic Acid)

6.30

DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid)

10.60

Total Omega-3

25.40

Total Omega-6

2.40

Omega-3/Omega-6

10.60

TS/TU rates

0.22

 

Effective Nutrient Comparison                            Based on 100g

Elements

Seal Meat

Beef

Pork

Chicken

Protein

gr

22.3

22.0

22.0

14.6

Collagen

gr

0.9

0.5

0.7

1.1

EAA Value/Essential Amino Acids

-

116.0

117.0

119.0

117.0

PER Value/Efficiency of the Protein

-

3.0

2.8

2.5

2.8

Lipids

gr

3.7

1.9

1.8

9.8

Calorric Value/Calories

kj

528.0

481.0

479.0

612.0

Calcium(Ca)

mg

591.0

3.5

3.2

78.4

Phosporus (P)

mg

504.0

194.0

204.0

195.0

Potassium (K)

mg

288.0

370.0

418.0

229.0

Sodium (Na)

mg

159.0

57.0

56.0

87.0

Iron (Fe)

mg

64.0

1.9

1.0

1.8

Magnesium (Mg)

mg

34.0

21.0

27.0

17.0

Zinc (Zn)

mg

2.8

4.2

1.9

2.2

Copper (Cu)

mg

0.1

0.1

-

0.1

Maganese (Mn)

mg

0.1

-

0.1

0.1

Vitamin B1

mg

0.3

0.2

0.2

0.2

Vitamin B2

mg

0.1

0.2

0.9

0.1

Vitamin B3

mg

6.0

7.5

5.0

4.5

Pantothenic Acid

mg

0.9

0.6

0.7

1.6

Vitamin B6

mg

0.2

0.4

0.5

0.3

Vitamin B12

7.7

5.0

5.0

0.8

Folic Acid

3.3

15.3

6.0

11.5

 

Amino Acid

Seal Meat

Beef

Pork

Alanine

5.88

 

 

Arginine

6.21

 

 

Aaspartic acid

8.23

 

 

Cystine

0.87

 

 

Glutamine

11.46

 

 

Glycine

4.47

 

 

Histidine

5.01

2.9

3.2

Isoleucine

4.58

5.1

4.9

Leucine

7.44

8.4

7.5

Lysine

8.72

8.4

7.8

Methionine

1.64

2.3

2.5

Phenylalanine

4.57

4.0

5.1

Proline

3.89

 

 

Serine

3.98

 

 

Taurine

0.39

 

 

Threonine

4.53

4.0

5.1

Tryptophane

1.20

1.1

1.4

Tyrosine

2.85

 

 

Valine

5.80

5.7

5.

mark is the Essential Amino Acids (Seal meat contains plenty of the essential amino acids)