First Confirmed Record of Grey Seals in Greenland

The presence of grey seals has never before been confirmed in Greenland, but on 30 August 2009 a grey seal was photographed near shore in Southeast Greenland (59°53' N, 43°28' W). The seal was observed within a small group of islands that hosts a harbour seal colony. The following day, a seal that might be a young grey seal was photographed at the same location. Information from Inuit hunters suggests that grey seals periodically visit Greenland, but the pictures taken in summer 2009 are the first solid proof of this seal species in Greenland. RÉSUMÉ. La présence de phoques gris n'avait jamais été confirmée au Groenland, mais le 30 août 2009, un phoque gris a été photographié près de la côte sud-est du Groenland (59?53? N, 43?28? O). Le phoque a été observé au sein d'un petit groupement d'Îles où se tient une colonie de phoques communs. Le lendemain, un phoque qui était peut-être un jeune phoque gris a été photographié au même endroit. D'après les chasseurs inuits, les phoques gris se rendraient périodiquement au Groenland, mais les photographies prises à l'été 2009 constituent les premières preuves tangibles de la présence de cette espèce de phoque au Groenland. Although the observations described above might be valid, authors who were [Robert Brown]'s contemporaries do not mention grey seals when describing the Greenlandic fauna. H.J. Rink was a scientist and inspector of the colonies in southwest Greenland and lived in Greenland from 1853 to 1868. In his book about the people living in Greenland (Rink, 1877), he thoroughly described species hunted by the Inuit, but he never mentioned grey seals. Winge (1902) reviewed all the available literature about mammals in Greenland up until the start of the 20th century, including information from Brown (1868), but he did not include the grey seal as part of Greenland's fauna. Apparently Brown had not convinced Winge of the existence of grey seals in Greenland, and none of the successive authors that have described Greenland's fauna have included the grey seal.