How long can a seal live out of the water?

Indefinitely, although many seals would need assisted feeding - they've evolved to hunt underwater, after all - and may be at some risk of tissue viability issues as they aren't 'designed' to be dry and on a hard surface continuously. read more

Mothers do not teach pups to hunt; they learn on their own. Seals dive for three minutes at a time typically, but they can stay under water as long as 30 minutes and dive as deep as 600 feet. Unlike humans, harbor seals breathe out before diving. read more

Seals can stay out of the water for extended periods depending on the needs of the individual. It can be completely normal for some species of seals to spend several days to even a week at a time out of the water. read more

Grey seals can remain submerged for over 25 minutes if necessary, and can easily dive to depths of 300 feet. To film the underwater activities of the seals, we dive every day for weeks on end. For most of the dives during our filming, the seals keep their distance, never approaching us very closely. read more