The harp seal is mostly white with black patches and a black head. When female harp seals reproduce, the babies are all white. The male harp seals can grow to be about 5.5 feet long and can weigh up to 285 lbs. The females are generally smaller. Harp seals use their whispers as their sense of touch.

Harp heals diet on fish and crustaceans. Instead of chewing, they swallow their food in large chunks. They use their back, flat teeth to crush the shells of the crustaceans.

The harp seal is a marine mammal. They spend most their lives in the ocean, but also go on ice floes. They live along the shorelines of the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean.