Item: i78236

Authentic Medal of:

Longines Sterling Silver Medal
Silver medal 39mm (34.52 grams) .0925 Silver
JDL HARP SEAL W, Six seals on beach wiht clouds above.
- HARP SEAL - GENTLE AND TRUSTING, INHABITANT OF THE FROZEN ALASKAN COAST.  IT HAS VIRTUALLY NO NATURAL PROTECTION FROM THE PRIVATE INTERESTS THAT ENDANGER ITS VERY EXISTENCE, Cloud above text, bird, pine tree forest, elk group, and rhinoceros to left, goat on opposite cliff.

Edge Lettering: I 1209 © LONGINES SYMPHONETTE STERLING

This medal was issued as part of the endangered wildlife set issued by Longines.  It raises awareness of the plight which harp seals face.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.

The harp seal or saddleback seal, Pagophilus groenlandicus is a species of earless seal, or true seal, native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean. Originally in the genus Phoca with a number of other species, it was reclassified into the monotypic genus Pagophilus in 1844. In Latin, its scientific name translates to "ice-lover from Greenland," and its taxonomic synonym, Phoca groenlandica translates to "Greenlandic seal."

The mature harp seal has pure black eyes. It has a silver-gray fur covering its body, with black harp or wishbone-shaped markings dorsally. Adult harp seals grow to be 1.7 to 2.0 m (5 ft 7 in to 6 ft 7 in) long and weigh from 115 to 140 kg (254 to 309 lb). The harp seal pup often has a yellow-white coat at birth due to staining from amniotic fluid, but after one to three days, the coat whitens and remains white for 2-3 weeks, until the first molt. Adolescent harp seals have a silver-gray coat spotted with black.

Physiology

Harp seals are considered sexually dimorphic, as the males are slightly larger, and more decorated. Males weigh an average of 135 kg (298 lb), and reach a length up to 1.9 m (6.2 ft), while females weigh an average of 120 kg (260 lb) and reach up to 1.8 metres (5.9 ft). Males generally have a more defined dorsal harp marking and a darker head, while some females never develop the marking and remain spotted.

Diving

Compared to other phocid seals, the harp seal dives from shallow to moderately deep depths. Dive depth varies with season, time of day and location. In the Greenland Sea sub-population, the average dive rate is around 8.3 dives per hour and dives range from a depth of less than 20 to over 500m. Dive duration ranges from less than 2 minutes to just over 20 minutes. During the spring and summer when seals forage along the pack ice in the Greenland Sea, most dives are less than 50m. In the late fall and winter, dive depth has been found to increase, particularly in the Denmark Strait, where the mean dive depth was found to be 141m.

Lactating female harp seals spend about 80% of the time in the water and 20% of the time on the fast-ice weaning or in close proximity to their pups. However, almost half of the time spent in the water is at the surface, which is well beyond what is expected to recover from their dives. This behavior allows the mother harp seal to conserve energy and avoid the harsh conditions of the fast-ice while remaining in close proximity to its pup. As with most phocids, the mother harp seal requires vast amounts of energy to ensure sufficient mass transfer to the growing, weaning pup, however they still remain within their aerobic dive limit for 99% of dives.

Thermoregulation

Harp seals combine anatomical and behavioral approaches to managing their body temperatures, instead of elevating their metabolic rate and energy requirements. Their lower critical temperature is believed to be under −10 degrees Celsius in air. Blubber insulates the Harp seals core but not the flippers as much, instead the flippers rely on having circulatory adaptations to help prevent heat loss through their flippers. A thick coat of blubber insulates its body and provides energy when food is scarce or during fasting. Blubber also streamlines its body for more efficient swimming. Brown fat warms blood as it returns from the body surface as well as providing energy, most importantly for newly-weaned pups.

Flippers act as heat exchangers, warming or cooling the seal as needed. On ice, the seal can press its fore-flippers to its body and its hind-flippers together to reduce heat loss. They can also redirect blood flow from the periphery to minimize heat loss.

Life history

Harp seals spend relatively little time on land compared with time at sea. These are social animals and can be quite vocal in groups. They form large colonies, within which, smaller groups with their own hierarchy are believed to form. Groups of several thousand form during pupping and mating season. Harp seals are able to live over 30 years in the wild.

On the ice, pups call their mothers by "yelling," and "mumble" while playing with others. Adults "growl" and "warble" to warn off conspecifics and predators. Underwater, adults have been recorded using more than 19 types of vocalization during courting and mating.

Distribution

The current global harp seal population estimates total around 2.25 to 3 million individuals, with 3 distinct breeding stocks: 500,000-800,000 individuals in the Northeast Atlantic, 100,000-150,000 in the Greenland Sea, and 1-1.57 million in the Northwest Atlantic. The largest population in the Northwest Atlantic is estimated to produce 250,000-400,000 young annually. Due to their dependence on pack ice for breeding, the harp seal range is restricted to areas where pack ice forms seasonally. The western North Atlantic stock, which is the largest, is located off eastern Canada. This population is further divided into two separate herds based on the breeding location. The Front herd breeds off the coast of Labrador and Newfoundland, and the Gulf herd breeds near the Magdalen Islands in the middle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. A second stock breeds on the "West Ice" off eastern Greenland. A third stock breeds on the "East Ice" in the White Sea, which is off the north coast of Russia below the Barents ea. Breeding occurs between mid-February and April, and varies somewhat for each stock. The three stocks are allopatric and don't interbreed.

There are two recognised subspecies:

• Pagophilus groenlandicus groenlandicus - Eastern Canada to Norway
• Pagophilus groenlandicus oceanicus - White and Barents seas

Migration and vagrancy

Harp seals are strongly migratory. The northwest population regularly moves up to 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) northeast outside of the breeding season; one individual was located off the north Norwegian coast, 4,640 kilometres (2,880 mi) east northeast of its tagging location. Their navigational accuracy is high, with good eyesight an important factor. They are occasionally found as vagrants, south of their normal range. In Great Britain, a total of 31 vagrants were recorded between 1800 and 1988,

More recently, they reached Lindisfarne in Northumberland in September 1995, and the Shetland Islands in 1987. The latter was linked to a mass movement of harp seals into Norwegian waters; by mid-February 1987, 24,000 were reported drowned in fishing nets and perhaps 30,000,000 (about 10% of the world population) had invaded fjords as far south as Oslo. The animals were emaciated, likely due to humans competing for their prey.

Harp seals can strand on Atlantic coasts, often in warmer months, due to dehydration and parasite load. Harp seals often consume snow to stay hydrated, but in mild winters may not have enough available. Several centers are active in seal rescue and rehabilitation, including IFAW, NOAA, and the New England Aquarium. Harp seals are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act in the United States.

Seal hunting

All 3 populations are hunted commercially, mainly by Canada, Norway, Russia and Greenland.

In Canada, commercial hunting season is from November 15 to May 15. Most sealing occurs in late March in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and during the first or second week of April off Newfoundland, in an area known as "the Front". This peak spring period is generally what is referred to as the "Canadian seal hunt". Hunting Canadian whitecoats has been banned since 1987. Since 2000, harp seals that are targeted during the hunt are often found to be less than a year old, known as "beaters". In 2006, the St. Lawrence hunt officially started on March 25 due to thin ice caused by the year's milder temperatures. Inuit people living in the region hunt mainly for food and, to a lesser extent, commerce.

In 2003, the three-year quota granted by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans was increased to 975,000, with a maximum of 350,000 in any two consecutive years. In 2006, 325,000 harp seals, as well as 10,000 hooded seals and 10,400 grey seals were killed. An additional 10,000 animals are allocated to First Nations hunters.

In 2005, the Independent Veterinarians' Working Group (IVWG) recommended a three-step process for hunters to kill the seals with little or no pain for the seals, as long as the process is completed in rapid succession. The process is as followed:

1. Stun the seal on the head using tools, such as a rifle or a club, to immediately kill the animal or cause it to permanently lose consciousness.
2. Ensure that step 1 was completed correctly, and the skull is irreversibly damaged.
3. Cut the axillary arteries along both armpits and cut along the belly to prevent blood from reaching the brain, confirming its death.

In 2009, this process was included in both the 'Conditions of License' for the Canadian hunt as well as the Canadian Marine Mammal Regulations.

The Canadian seal hunt is monitored by the Canadian government. Although approximately 70% of the hunt occurs on "the Front", most private monitors focus on the St. Lawrence hunt, due to its more convenient location.

About 70,000-90,000 animals are taken from the population off the coast of Greenland.

The 2004 West Ice total allowable catch (TAC) was 15,000, almost double the sustainable catch of 8,200. Actual catches were 9,895 in 2004 and 5,808 in 2005. The 2004 White Sea TAC was 45,000. The catch was 22,474.

Population Dynamics

Hunting has had a significant impact on the population size of Harp Seals. Over the past 150 years, the Harp Seal population has fluctuated from over 9 million to as little as 1 million. As of 2016, the current population is estimated to be 7.4 million. Hunting restrictions are now in place for these animals. The Northwest Atlantic populations was found to have decreased by at least 50 percent from 1952 to 1970. Populations have also been changing with respect to distribution and have been found to have invaded areas such as North Norway. The Harp Seal invasions have been harming the area's fisheries.

Compagnie des Montres Longines Francillon S.A., or simply Longines), is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. Founded by Auguste Agassiz in 1832, the company has been a subsidiary of the Swiss Swatch Group since 1983. Its winged hourglass logo, which was registered in 1889, is the oldest unchanged yet still active registered trademark.

Longines was founded in Saint-Imier in 1832 by Auguste Agassiz, a Swiss watchmaker and brother of biologist Louis Agassiz. Auguste had two partners, lawyers Henri Raiguel and Florian Morel, and the company's origional name was Raiguel Jeune & Cie. By 1846, Raigeul and Morel had retired from the watch industry, leaving Agassiz as sole company head.

Several years later, Agassiz brought in his bright, enterprising nephew, trained economist Ernest Francillon, into the business. Francillon was the mastermind behind several impressive innovations that would distinguish the company from competitors. One early stroke of genius from Francillon was to solely produce crown-wound pocket watches rather than the prevalent key-wound alternative. Later, when Agassiz started suffering from ill health, he passed leadership to Francillon.

1867-1878

Under Francillon, the company began segueing out of the établissage system and moved towards more modern production methods. Francillon solidified his firm's progression to mass production in 1867 by establishing his first factory. Its location, an area in southern St. Imier known locally as Les Longines ("long meadows") gave rise to the Longines name. To help further his efforts to improve production at Longines, Francillon brought on Jacques David, a talented engineer. In addition, Francillon appointed David as Technical Director and put him in charge of the new factory. By 1867, it was also marked the year the Longines factory produced its first in-house watch movement, the 20A. The 20A, built with an anchor escapement (usually employed in pendulum clocks), was wound and set via a pendent crown. The innovative movement won an award at the 1867 Universal Exhibition in Paris.

Several years later, the U.S. watchmaking industry was earning fame worldwide for making great strides in industrialized watch manufacturing. Francillon sent Jacques David to the 1876 World's Fair in Philadelphia to garner new ideas and strategies from the Americans. Upon returning, David wrote a comprehensive 108-page report on what he'd learned about American watch production. Essentially, this report is considered one of the most significant documents in watchmaking history. It detailed the inner workings of American watch factories, including the entire production process from raw materials to finished watches. Additionally, David also shared the highly-effective internal structure and quality control measures implemented in these factories. In his analysis, David concluded the Swiss watchmaking industry needed to change significantly to keep pace with American competitors.

In 1878, Longines developed its first chronograph movement, the 20H. It was a "mono-pusher" chronograph, in which all 3 chronograph functions- start, stop, and reset - were controlled via the crown. With the 20H, Longines could produce stopwatches suitable for precise timing in professional events. This was when Longines began building its reputation in equestrian sports such as horse racing and jumping.

By 1880, Longines was known for the quality and precision of its timepieces. To Francillon's dismay, the brand became a target for counterfeiters looking to pass off cheaply-made watches as genuine Longines products. "Knock-offs" of Longines were not only directly stealing business and revenue from Francillon, but also potentially damaging his company's reputation. So Francillon made the wise decision to trademark the Longines name in 1880, and distinctive winged hourglass logo in 1889. By 1886, Longines had already established itself as a primary supplier of timing equipment for most New York sporting officials.

1931-1971

In 1931, Longines collaborated with an aviator, Charles Lindbergh introduces an aviation watch called, Longines Weems, which is named after P. V. H. Weems. In 1954, Longines introduced a timekeeping instrument called, Longines Chronocinegines.

1971-present

In 1971, Longines was sold by ASUAG. is one of the companies that merged to become Société Suisse de Microélectronique et d'Horlogerie, and later it would became the Swatch Group since 1983.