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Harp Seal, Gulf of Saint Lawrence, Canada, 2003

A young seal looks warily around an icy whelping site in Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence. Seals that are weaned and have shed their downy fur are called beaters for the way they beat their flippers on the water. Their sleek, unmarred pelts are prime quarry for seal hunters.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Harp Seal: The Hunt for Balance," March 2004, National Geographic magazine)

Photograph by Brian Skerry