Ringed seal facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ringed seal |
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Pusa
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hispida
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The ringed seal (Pusa hispida) is a small earless seal that lives in the cold Arctic and sub-Arctic parts of the world. You can recognize them by their unique pattern: dark spots surrounded by light gray rings on their fur. This is how they got their name!
These seals are the most common ice seals in the Northern Hemisphere. They live all across the Arctic Ocean, reaching as far south as Japan in the Pacific and Newfoundland in the North Atlantic. Some types even live in freshwater lakes in northern Europe. Ringed seals are the smallest seals in these areas, usually about 1.5 meters (5 feet) long.
Ringed seals can live for about 40 years. They prefer to live alone. Their main foods are Arctic cod and tiny crustaceans, which are small sea creatures. They are a favorite meal for polar bears and killer whales. People who have lived in the Arctic for a long time also traditionally hunt them for food.
A big challenge for ringed seals today is the changing climate in the Arctic. Warmer temperatures are affecting the sea ice they depend on. Less snow and ice make it harder for them to survive. However, some scientists think that if their main predators decrease due to warming, ringed seal numbers might actually grow.
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Meet the Ringed Seal
The ringed seal is the smallest and most common seal in the Arctic. They have a small head, a short snout like a cat, and a round body. Their fur is dark with silver rings on their back and sides. Their belly is silver, which gives them their special name.
Adult ringed seals can be from 100 to 175 centimeters (39 to 69 inches) long. They weigh between 32 and 140 kilograms (71 to 309 pounds). On average, they are about 1.5 meters (5 feet) long and weigh 50 to 70 kilograms (110 to 150 pounds). Their front flippers have strong claws, over 2.5 cm (1 inch) thick. They use these claws to keep breathing holes open in ice that can be as thick as 1.8 meters (6 feet)!
Where Do Ringed Seals Live?
Ringed seals live all over the Arctic Ocean. You can find them in the Baltic Sea, the Bering Sea, and Hudson Bay. They like to rest on floating ice and will travel north to find thicker ice. Two special types of ringed seals, called subspecies, live in freshwater lakes. These are found in Lake Saimaa and Lake Ladoga.
These seals live in icy waters from about 35°N latitude all the way to the North Pole. They are very good at living in places with seasonal and permanent ice. They often prefer large ice floes, especially where the ice covers more than 90% of the water. They stay near ice for most of the year. They also have their babies on the ice in late winter and early spring.
Ringed seals are found in the Beaufort, Chukchi, and Bering Seas. They can go as far south as Bristol Bay when there is a lot of ice. They keep breathing holes open in the ice. This allows them to use icy habitats that other seals cannot.
Ringed Seal Family Tree
Scientists have studied the ringed seal's family tree a lot. Because they live in so many different places, there are several types, called subspecies. Currently, five main subspecies are known. These include seals from the Arctic Ocean, the Sea of Okhotsk, and three freshwater types.
The ringed seal is closely related to the Caspian seal and the Baikal seal. All these seals are small, have similar skull shapes, and love to live near ice. They are part of a larger group of seals called Phocinae, which includes other northern ice seals.
Different Types of Ringed Seals
Here are the different types of ringed seals, based on where they live:
| Image | Subspecies | Distribution |
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Pusa hispida hispida (Arctic ringed seal) |
Lives along the Arctic coasts of Europe, Russia, Canada, and Alaska. This includes places like Novaya Zemlya, Spitsbergen, Greenland, and Baffin Island. |
| Pusa hispida ochotensis | Found near the Kamchatka Peninsula, in the Okhotsk Sea, and south along the Japanese Pacific coast. | |
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Pusa hispida botnica (Baltic ringed seal) |
Lives in the Baltic Sea, especially in the Bothnian Bay. There are also groups in the Gulf of Finland, Gulf of Riga, and the Archipelago Sea. This type was listed as 'vulnerable' in 2013. |
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Pusa hispida ladogensis (Ladoga ringed seal) |
Lives only in Lake Ladoga in Russia. |
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Pusa hispida saimensis (Saimaa ringed seal) |
Lives only in Lake Saimaa in Finland. It is one of the most endangered seals in the world, with only about 400 individuals. |
These last three subspecies live separately from the others.
Ringed Seal Life Cycle and Reproduction
Female ringed seals can start having babies when they are about 4 years old. Males are ready to mate when they are around 7 years old. In the spring, which is their breeding season, females build special snow dens on thick ice. They give birth to one pup inside these dens in March or April. This happens after a pregnancy of about 9 months.
Pups drink their mother's milk for two months. During this time, they grow a thick layer of blubber (fat) to keep warm. Females usually start mating again in late April. Males travel across the ice looking for a mate. After spending a few days together, the male will then look for another mate.
Ringed seals live for about 25 to 30 years. They are mostly solitary animals. When they rest on the ice, they keep hundreds of yards apart from each other.
What Do Ringed Seals Eat?
Ringed seals eat many different kinds of small sea creatures. Their diet includes 72 types of fish and invertebrates (animals without backbones). They usually hunt alone. Some of their favorite foods are mysids, shrimp, euphausiids, amphipods, other crustaceans, cephalopods, arctic cod, herring, and sculpin.
When hunting, ringed seals dive deep, from 10 to 45 meters (35 to 150 feet). In summer, they hunt along the edge of the sea ice for polar cod and saffron cod. In shallow waters, they eat smaller cod. They might also eat smelt, whitefish, and perch.
Who Hunts the Ringed Seal?
Ringed seals are a very important food source, especially for polar bears. During the time when pups are born, Arctic foxes and glaucous gulls sometimes catch pups that are born outside their snow dens. In the water, killer whales, Greenland sharks, and sometimes walruses hunt adult seals.
Ringed Seals and People
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For a very long time, ringed seals have been an important food source for indigenous peoples in the Arctic. Many communities still hunt them every year. Ancient sites in Arctic Canada show that people were hunting ringed seals as far back as 4000 to 3500 years ago. They likely caught them in cracks in the ice.
In 2012, the government of Nunavut advised pregnant women to be careful about eating ringed seal liver. This was due to higher levels of natural substances like mercury. However, they also said that eating traditional "country food" is still healthy for most adults.
Sometimes, ringed seals get caught by accident in fishing nets used by large fishing boats. This is called Bycatch and is a threat to them. The biggest challenge for ringed seals is climate change. Their home depends a lot on sea ice, which is changing.
Protecting Ringed Seals
The estimated number of ringed seals in Alaska is about 249,000 animals. In 2010, scientists did not know if this number was going up or down. The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) lists ringed seals as a species of "least concern." This means they are not currently in danger of disappearing.
However, in 2008, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service started to review their status. They wanted to see if the seals needed more protection under the Endangered Species Act. This shows that even common animals need to be watched carefully.
Climate Change and Ringed Seals
Ringed seals live all around the North Pole, in what is called a circumpolar area. Scientists expect climate change to affect the polar regions more than anywhere else. This means big changes for all animals living there, including ringed seals.
How Climate Change Affects Them
In recent years, the Arctic has experienced some of its warmest temperatures ever recorded. This warming is happening because as sea ice melts, more dark ocean water is exposed. Dark water absorbs more sunlight than bright ice, which makes the ocean warmer and melts even more ice. This is a cycle that speeds up warming.
Ringed seals need sea ice to live and have their babies. They spend most of their lives alone. They only gather in groups on the ice to shed their fur, mate, or rest. Without enough sea ice, ringed seals cannot survive. This also affects other animals in the food chain, both those they eat and those that eat them.
Ringed seals eat tiny sea creatures and fish. This makes them both primary and secondary consumers. Polar bears are top predators in the Arctic, and they mostly eat seals, including ringed seals. The future of this Arctic food web is complex. It involves a trade-off between the survival of polar bears and the well-being of ringed seals.
What Scientists Are Learning
Much research on ringed seals focuses on their need for sea ice to live and reproduce. Scientists predict that the Arctic will change greatly due to melting ice and changes in snowfall. Studies have shown that less snowfall negatively affects ringed seal pups. This is because less snow means the sea ice breaks up earlier. Pups are then forced into the water too soon, which can lead to fewer of them surviving.
Scientists use computer models to study how climate change might affect sea ice and seal populations. For example, in the Baltic Sea, models show that future ice scarcity could make it very hard for ringed seals to reproduce. They need areas with 90-100% ice cover to successfully breed.
Interestingly, some research suggests that ringed seal populations might actually increase in certain areas, like Hudson Bay. This is mainly because their main predator, the polar bear, is facing challenges due to climate change. If polar bear numbers decline, ringed seals might thrive more, even with other challenges. Ringed seals are also adaptable eaters and live in many places, which makes them less sensitive to changes than some other Arctic animals.
Looking Ahead for Ringed Seals
The future for ringed seals in the Arctic is uncertain. Two main ideas stand out. One idea focuses on how climate change directly affects sea ice. Less ice means fewer places for seals to breed, which could lead to fewer seals. Most past research focused on this idea.
However, newer research also considers the decline in polar bear populations. Since polar bears are the main predators of ringed seals, their decrease could allow ringed seal numbers to grow. Some estimates suggest ringed seals could thrive if polar bears are no longer present. These are complex predictions, and the actual outcome is still unknown. What is certain is that climate change will affect ringed seals and all other Arctic animals.
See also
In Spanish: Foca ocelada para niños
