Over the last 40+ years, the population of the northern fur seal at the Pribilof
Islands has declined by a further 66% despite the fact that they are now strictly
protected under US law. Since this population constitutes around one half of the
world’s overall northern fur seal population, this decline is significant on a global
scale. At the same time, the fur seal population at Bogoslof Island in the southern
Bering Sea has grown at a rate of 48.5% between 1980 and 2005 and around 10%
between 2005 and 2011. The overall population trend of this species is decreasing,
but the increasing Bogoslof population, paired with a stable, if not increasing,
population on the Russian islands, has counteracted this trend to a degree. Nevertheless, the IUCN lists the northern fur seal as ‘vulnerable’. Climate change, pollution
and human infrastructure—first and foremost for oil exploration, harbours and
shipping—as well as entanglement in fishing gear constitute the major threats to
this species. The small, local use for food does not impact the conservation status of
the northern fur seal.
29
2.2.3 Ringed Seal (Pusa hispida)
The ringed seal (Pusa hispida) is an earless seal species with a circumpolar distribution on the northern hemisphere. While the species is an inhabitant of salt water, two
freshwater subspecies can be found in Lake Saimaa in southern Finland (Saimaa
ringed seal, Pusa hispida ssp. saimensis) and in Lake Ladoga in southwestern Russia
(Ladoga seal, Pusa hispida ssp. ladogensis).
The ringed seal is the smallest pinniped species, only reaching sizes of 1–1.5 m.
Although mostly considered an inshore seal species with high population
abundances close to land, ringed seals have also been observed on stable pack ice
areas offshore and even at the North Pole. Their southernmost range, apart from the
freshwater seals, extends as far south as Iceland and southern Greenland as well as
into the Baltic Sea while most of the ringed seal population occurs north of the Arctic
Circle.
Similar to harp seals, ringed seals spend considerable time in the water, but need
solid ice for reproduction and breeding. Oftentimes, snow lairs and very remote
locations also serve as haul-out sites for ringed seals. Therefore, population estimates
are difficult to conduct.
Ringed seals are a seal species which spends considerable time underwater, but
which maintains breathing holes in the ice, for which they scratch open the ice or
build up snow with their fore flippers. Also snow lairs or caves are dug out by the
species in which the seal rests during the winter and early spring. Ringed seal pups
are usually born within these caves, that protect them from predators such as the
polar bear.
Ringed seals constitute the main food source for polar bears and have been
subject to subsistence hunts all over the Arctic for centuries. The catchy image of
29 Gelatt et al. (2015).
2.2 Seals
29
Islands has declined by a further 66% despite the fact that they are now strictly
protected under US law. Since this population constitutes around one half of the
world’s overall northern fur seal population, this decline is significant on a global
scale. At the same time, the fur seal population at Bogoslof Island in the southern
Bering Sea has grown at a rate of 48.5% between 1980 and 2005 and around 10%
between 2005 and 2011. The overall population trend of this species is decreasing,
but the increasing Bogoslof population, paired with a stable, if not increasing,
population on the Russian islands, has counteracted this trend to a degree. Nevertheless, the IUCN lists the northern fur seal as ‘vulnerable’. Climate change, pollution
and human infrastructure—first and foremost for oil exploration, harbours and
shipping—as well as entanglement in fishing gear constitute the major threats to
this species. The small, local use for food does not impact the conservation status of
the northern fur seal.
29
2.2.3 Ringed Seal (Pusa hispida)
The ringed seal (Pusa hispida) is an earless seal species with a circumpolar distribution on the northern hemisphere. While the species is an inhabitant of salt water, two
freshwater subspecies can be found in Lake Saimaa in southern Finland (Saimaa
ringed seal, Pusa hispida ssp. saimensis) and in Lake Ladoga in southwestern Russia
(Ladoga seal, Pusa hispida ssp. ladogensis).
The ringed seal is the smallest pinniped species, only reaching sizes of 1–1.5 m.
Although mostly considered an inshore seal species with high population
abundances close to land, ringed seals have also been observed on stable pack ice
areas offshore and even at the North Pole. Their southernmost range, apart from the
freshwater seals, extends as far south as Iceland and southern Greenland as well as
into the Baltic Sea while most of the ringed seal population occurs north of the Arctic
Circle.
Similar to harp seals, ringed seals spend considerable time in the water, but need
solid ice for reproduction and breeding. Oftentimes, snow lairs and very remote
locations also serve as haul-out sites for ringed seals. Therefore, population estimates
are difficult to conduct.
Ringed seals are a seal species which spends considerable time underwater, but
which maintains breathing holes in the ice, for which they scratch open the ice or
build up snow with their fore flippers. Also snow lairs or caves are dug out by the
species in which the seal rests during the winter and early spring. Ringed seal pups
are usually born within these caves, that protect them from predators such as the
polar bear.
Ringed seals constitute the main food source for polar bears and have been
subject to subsistence hunts all over the Arctic for centuries. The catchy image of
29 Gelatt et al. (2015).
2.2 Seals
29