Editing Harp seal (section)

=== Diet ===
[[File:Mallotus villosus.gif|thumb|right|[[Capelin]]]]
Like most [[pinnipeds]], harp seals are [[carnivorous]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/harp-seal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318145319/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/harp-seal |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 18, 2021 |title=Harp Seal |work=National Geographic |date=2011-03-10 |access-date=2018-04-10}}</ref> They have a diverse diet including several dozen [[Piscivore|fish]] and invertebrate species.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://oceana.org/marine-life/marine-mammals/harp-seal|title=Harp Seal|work=Oceana|access-date=2018-04-10|language=en}}</ref> The [[White Sea]] population migrates northward in the summer [[Foraging|to forage]] extensively in the [[Barents Sea]].  Where common prey items include [[krill]], capelin (''[[Mallotus villosus]]''), [[herring]] (such as ''[[Clupea harengus]]''), [[flat fish]], and [[Gadiform]] fish, such as various species of [[cod]].<ref name="Lindstrøm-2013">{{Cite journal|last1=Lindstrøm|first1=Ulf|last2=Nilssen|first2=Kjell|s2cid=17370939|date=2013|title=Harp seal foraging behaviour during summer around Svalbard in the northern Barents Sea: diet composition and the selection of prey|journal=Polar Biology|volume=36|issue=3|pages=305–320|doi=10.1007/s00300-012-1260-x|bibcode=2013PoBio..36..305L }}</ref> Harp seals prefer some prey,{{Which|date=March 2025}} though their diet depends largely on prey abundance.<ref name="Lindstrøm-1998">{{cite journal |first1=U. |last1=Lindstrøm |first2=A. |last2=Harbitz |first3=T. |last3=Haug |first4=K. T. |last4=Nilssen |title=Do harp seals ''Phoca groenlandica'' exhibit particular prey preferences? |journal=ICES Journal of Marine Science |volume=55 |issue=5 |year=1998 |pages=941–953 |doi=10.1006/jmsc.1998.0367|doi-access=free |bibcode=1998ICJMS..55..941L }}</ref> Diet and abundance analysis of the [[Svalbard]] population found that this population predominantly eats krill, followed closely by polar cod (''[[Arctogadus glacialis|Arctogladus glacialis]]'').<ref name="Lindstrøm-2013" /> Some individuals from the Greenland Sea sub-population have been observed to forage in the Barents Sea alongside the White Sea sub-population during late summer and fall.<ref name="Folkow-2004" /> Barents Sea harp seals eat mostly herring and polar cod but less krill or [[Amphipoda|amphipod]]s, likely because these seals usually dive deeper than such prey.<ref name="Lindstrøm-1998"/>

Western North Atlantic harp seals forage both near and offshore of [[Newfoundland]], most preferring such prey as Arctic cod (''[[Boreogadus saida]]''), capelin, Greenland halibut (''[[Reinhardtius hippoglossoides]]'') and American plaice (''[[Hippoglossoides platessoides]]'').<ref name="John-1998">{{Cite journal|last1=John|first1=Lawson|last2=Anderson|first2=John|date=1998|title=Selective foraging by harp seals ''Phoca groenlandica'' in nearshore and offshore waters of Newfoundland, 1993 and 1994|journal=Marine Ecology Progress Series|volume=163|pages=1–10|doi=10.3354/meps163001|bibcode=1998MEPS..163....1L|doi-access=free}}</ref> As in other populations and foraging areas, diet varies with distance from shore, with arctic cod comprising more of it [[Nearshore waters|nearshore]] and capelin more of it [[Pelagic zone|offshore]].<ref name="John-1998" /> However, capelin is the preferred prey in both locales.<ref name="John-1998" />