Everything about The Ringed Seal totally explained
The
Ringed Seal (
Pusa hispida), also known as the
Jar Seal and as
Netsik or
Nattiq by the
Inuit, is an
earless seal inhabiting the northern coasts.
Description
Typical adult Ringed seals are 85 to 160 cm long and weigh 40 to 90 kg. The coat is a light grey spotted with black; the spots often being surrounded with lighter ring markings, from which this seal gets its
vernacular name. Ring seals have a small head and small plump bodies. Their snouts are short and narrow.
Range and habitat
Ringed seals live throughout the
Arctic Ocean. They can be found in the
Baltic Sea, the
Bering Sea and the
Hudson Bay. They prefer to rest on ice floe and will move farther north for denser ice. Some subspecies can be found in freshwater.
Life history
Female seals reach maturity at 5-7 years while males usually reach sexual maturity at around 6-8 years. The seals give birth on ice floes or shorefast ice. Seal pups are born from mid March to early April. Gestation period is approximately 9 months. Seal pups depend on maternal care for 40 days and build up a thick layer of
blubber. The ringed seals are the only
pinnipeds that maintain a breathing hole in the ice thus allowing it to use ice habitat that other seals can not.
Mating starts in between August and September (High Arctic). Males will roam the ice for a mate. When found, the male and female may spend several days together before mating. Then the male looks for another mate.
The seal's natural predators are
orcas,
polar bears,
wolves and
wolverines. In addition for threats from predators, due to the effects of global warming, icepacks have begun breaking up earlier than in the past. Birthing lairs are often destroyed before the seal pup is able to forage on its own leading to poor body condition.
Diet
In the summer Ringed seals feed along edge of the sea-ice for
polar cod. In shallow water they feed on smaller cod. Ringed seals may also eat
herring,
smelt,
whitefish,
sculpin,
perch, and crustaceans.
Economic Importance
Examination of
Early Paleoeskimo sites in
Arctic Canada has demonstrated the deliberate hunting of juvenile and young adult ringed seals, probably in the fall and winter from frozen cracks and leads in the ice (Murray, 2005).
Subspecies
The populations living in different areas have evolved to separate subspecies,
which are:
The three last subspecies are isolated from the others, like the closely related
Nerpa (Baikal Seal) and
Caspian Seal.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Ringed Seal'.
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