Scientists still do not know the average life span of this species, or the diet and behavior of males apart from the breeding season.

Male seals have golden-tipped thick guard hairs on the back of the head, neck, and shoulders.

Classification in Chile was not possible at the time as specimens for comparison and relevant literature on the topic were not available in the country.

[5] In 1888 and 1889 Phillipi published articles where he harshly criticized both Burmeisters alternative classification and his alleged errors, suggesting a poor knowledge of geography and of the sources he cited.

[3] Breeding is a territorial process with the Juan Fernández fur seal, males will aggressively fight for access to female resting sites.

Pups are born with soft black fur that fades to light brown within the first few years.

What they have observed is that females forage out at sea sometimes as far as 300 miles offshore and will dive to depths of 30 to 300 feet (9.1 to 91.4 m) to find lanternfish and squid.

Typically lactating females will dive and forage at night when prey swims to shallow waters and become more accessible.

In the early 1990s, there were 60 pups discovered dead from hookworm infections,[8] and also the presence of heavy metal ions[9] were found in their systems.