Editing Northern fur seal (section)

==Ecology==
Fur seals are opportunistic feeders, primarily feeding on [[pelagic fish]] and squid depending on local availability. Identified fish prey include [[hake]], [[herring]], [[lantern fish]], [[capelin]], [[pollock]], and [[mackerel]].<ref name=Perrin/> Their feeding behavior is primarily solitary.

Northern fur seals are preyed upon primarily by [[shark]]s and [[killer whales]].<ref name=Perrin/> Occasionally, very young animals are eaten by Steller sea lions.<ref name=Perrin/> Occasional predation on live pups by [[Arctic fox]]es has also been observed.

Due to very high densities of pups on reproductive rookeries and the early age at which mothers begin their foraging trips, mortality can be relatively high. Consequently, pup carcasses are important in enriching the diet of many scavengers, in particular [[gulls]] and Arctic foxes.

In 2017, 14 samples of [[Echinophthiriidae|spiny lice]] were collected off of the [[nasal passage]] of fur seal pups.  In 2021, these spiny lice were identified as having unique bristle arrangements, and were given the scientific name ''Antarctophthirus nevelskoyi''.  They were named after the famous [[Russia]]n explorer, Admiral Gennady Ivanovich Nevelsky.<ref name="lice">{{cite journal|last1=Shchelkanov|first1=M. Y.|last2=Shchelkanov|first2=E. M.|last3=Moskvina|first3=T.V. |title=Antarctophthirus nevelskoyi n.sp. (Anoplura: Echinophthiriidae) - a new species-parasite of the northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus L., 1758) on the island of Seals (Sea of Okhotsk, Russia)|journal=South of Russia: Ecology, Development|date=2021|volume=16|issue=2|doi=10.18470/1992-1098-2021-2|doi-access=free}}</ref>