Editing Earless seal (section)

===Reproduction===
[[File:Earless seal (Puerto Madryn, Argentina).jpg|thumb|left|Southern elephant seals in Argentina|alt=Photo of seven adult and juvenile southern elephant seals packed closely on beach]]
[[File:Pusa hispida saimensis ca 1956.jpg|thumb|Living only in [[Lake Saimaa]], [[Finland]], [[Saimaa ringed seal]]s, a subspecies of [[ringed seal]], are among the most [[Endangered species|endangered]] seals in the world, having a total population of only about 400 individuals.<ref>{{cite web |title= Saimaa Ringed Seal |url= https://wwf.fi/en/saimaaringedseal/  |access-date=22 December 2018}}</ref>]]
<!--[[File:Zwei junge Seehunde am Strand.jpg|thumb|[[Paul de Vos]]:Two young seals on a beach]]-->

Phocids spend most of their time at sea, although they return to land or pack ice to breed and give birth. Pregnant females spend long periods foraging at sea, building up fat reserves, and then return to the breeding site to use their stored energy to nurse pups. However, the common seal displays a reproductive strategy similar to that used by [[Eared seal|otariids]], in which the mother makes short foraging trips between nursing bouts.{{fact|date=April 2025}}

Because a phocid mother's feeding grounds are often hundreds of kilometers from the breeding site, she must [[fasting|fast]] while [[lactation|lactating]]. This combination of fasting with lactation requires the mother to provide large amounts of energy to her pup at a time when she is not eating (and often, not drinking). Mothers must supply their own metabolic needs while nursing. This is a miniature version of the [[humpback whale]]s' strategy, which involves fasting during their months-long migration from arctic feeding areas to tropical breeding/nursing areas and back.{{fact|date=April 2025}}

Phocids produce thick, fat-rich milk that allows them to provide their pups with large amounts of energy in a short period. This allows the mother to return to the sea in time to replenish her reserves. Lactation ranges from five to seven weeks in the [[monk seal]] to just three to five days in the [[hooded seal]]. The mother ends nursing by leaving her pup at the breeding site to search for food (pups continue to nurse if given the opportunity). "Milk stealers" that suckle from unrelated, sleeping females are not uncommon; this often results in the death of the mother's pup, since a female can only feed one pup.{{fact|date=April 2025}}