This dataset contains range maps for the Harbor Seal, Phoca vitulina.

Harbor seals are one of the most common marine mammals along the U.S. West and East Coasts. They are commonly seen resting on rocks and beaches along the coast and on floating ice in glacial fjords with their head and rear flippers elevated in a “banana-like” position.
State-financed bounty hunters once hunted harbor seals in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts, and Maine because they were considered competitors of fishermen. This hunting program ended in 1960. Harbor seals, like all marine mammals, are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (NOAA 2022)

Vector datasets of CWHR range maps are one component of California Wildlife Habitat Relationships (CWHR), a comprehensive information system and predictive model for California's wildlife. The CWHR System was developed to support habitat conservation and management, land use planning, impact assessment, education, and research involving terrestrial vertebrates in California. CWHR contains information on life history, management status, geographic distribution, and habitat relationships for wildlife species known to occur regularly in California. Range maps represent the maximum, current geographic extent of each species within California. They were originally delineated at a scale of 1:5,000,000 by species-level experts and have gradually been revised at a scale of 1:1,000,000. For more information about CWHR, visit the CWHR webpage ( https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Data/CWHR ). The webpage provides links to download CWHR data and user documents such as a look up table of available range maps including species code, species name, and range map revision history; a full set of CWHR GIS data; .pdf files of each range map or species life history accounts; and a User Guide.