Description of the Baltic ringed seal. Ringed seal

Seals are a genus from the seal family. Sometimes seals are included in the genus of common seals. There are 3 species in the seal genus.

The ringed seal is found in temperate and cold waters of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and in the Arctic Ocean; in Russia lives in all northern seas, and also in the Bering and Okhotsk seas. The Caspian seal, or Caspian seal, lives in the Caspian Sea. The Baikal seal, or Baikal seal, inhabits Lake Baikal.

Uniqueness Baikal seal is that this is the only mammal that lives on Lake Baikal. Belongs to the seal family. Enough large mammal, body length reaches up to 140 cm, and weight reaches a full 90 kg. Males are always larger and heavier than females. Even a newborn baby is particularly heavy; at birth it weighs about 3 kilograms.

Appearance and behavior characteristics

The color is quite uniform, light gray along the back, transitioning to yellow closer to the belly. This coloring, dull at first glance, perfectly camouflages the seal. In nature she does not have natural enemies, the only one who hunts her is a man.

The seal skin is considered the warmest and most practical, which is why fishermen catch this animal. The indigenous inhabitants of Transbaikalia gladly use the meat of hunted seals for food.

The seal has very powerful paws topped with strong nails, which allows it to winter period tear apart a thin part of the ice in order to breathe oxygen. Constantly being under water at dusk has formed a certain structure of the eyes; they are quite convex, which allows the seal to easily obtain food for itself. The seal can stay under water for up to an hour, holding its breath for this period; it is an amazing swimmer, thanks to the increased concentration of hemoglobin, it can dive up to 300 meters in depth.

Her natural environment habitats - water depths, despite its impressive dimensions, it is very maneuverable and dexterous in the water; under water it can reach speeds of up to 25 km/h. But, like all seals, they are completely clumsy on land; in moments of danger, while on the shore, they can start racing, which looks quite funny.

Nutrition

The seal's favorite food is the small and large golomyanka, the long-winged goby, the yellow-winged goby, and the sand broadhead. Golomyankas occupy the main stage in seal nutrition. A seal eats from 3 to 5 kg of fish per day. And it takes 2-3 hours to digest food in the stomach.

Reproduction

After 4 years of life, females are ready to mate and reproduce, but males lag behind a little and mature a couple of years later. Mating season for seals it lasts from the end of March to the end of April. At this time, the males make every effort to invite the female onto the ice to mate. And if successful, after 11 months a small seal pup will be born. A natural feature is that pregnancy is delayed by 2-3 months, that is, the fertilized egg may be in the freezing stage, and only after this period the female’s pregnancy will begin to develop.

It is the female who takes care of the future birthplace for her cubs, usually a den in the snow, since the cubs appear in winter. After the baby is born, the seal mother will feed him milk for 3 months. Seal babies are born completely dependent on their mother, their skin is colored white. During the feeding period, the mother will only go fishing for her food; the rest of the time the female spends with the babies. When she is in the lair, the temperature there rises to +5, although outside it the temperature can drop to -15.

The ringed seal is named after the light rings with a dark frame that make up the pattern of its fur. Adults reach a size of 135 cm and a weight of 70 kg.

Dimensions and appearance

The ringed seal is one of the smallest. The body length of an adult seal is up to 150 cm, total mass usually does not exceed 50-60 kg. The body is relatively short and thick. The neck is short, the head is small, the muzzle is shortened. Vibrissae flattened with wavy edges. The hair of adult animals, like that of other species, is short, hard, with a predominance of awns.

The coloration of adults varies widely. Characterized by the presence large quantity light rings scattered throughout the body. The general background color of the dorsal side of the body is dark, sometimes almost black, while the ventral side is light, yellowish. There are no light rings on the flippers. Males and females are colored the same.

Habitat

The ringed seal is an inhabitant of the Arctic and subarctic waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, where it is found everywhere. Lives mainly in coastal shallow areas. Also inhabits the Baltic Sea, lakes Ladoga and Saimaa.

In Russia, the seal is distributed from the Murmansk coast to the Bering Strait, including the White Sea, the waters of Novaya Zemlya, Franz Josef Land, Severnaya Zemlya, New Siberian Islands. On Far East ringed seal called akiba. In the Bering Sea, it lives along the western (where it descends to the south almost to Cape Lopatka in Kamchatka) and eastern (to Bristol Bay) coasts, including the waters of the Commander and Aleutian Islands. In the Sea of ​​Okhotsk it inhabits the entire coastal part, including numerous bays, as well as the coast of Eastern Sakhalin, Sakhalin Bay and the Tatar Strait. Reaches the shores of Hokkaido.

Outside our waters, the ringed seal lives off the coast of Northern Norway, Spitsbergen, the eastern (up to 75 degrees N) and western coasts of Greenland, in the northern part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and off the island of Newfoundland. Inhabits almost the entire Canadian Arctic Archipelago, including Hudson Bay.

Migration in ringed seals is weakly expressed. Obviously, it goes farthest to the north. She spends most of the year in ice-covered bays and fiords. In autumn, as the water freezes, the animal does not migrate south, but makes holes in the ice, to which it regularly swims up to breathe and rest. Usually the seal spends 8-9 minutes under water, but if necessary, it may not rise to the surface for up to 20 minutes. It only takes 45 seconds for a seal to stock up on a new portion of air.

Reproduction

In Okhotsk and Chukotka, in Bely and Barents Seas females bring offspring from mid-March to mid-April, in the Baltic Sea and Lake Ladoga - mainly in early March.

The cubs are born in a long, thick plumage, which is replaced, apparently, after 2 weeks. The length of a newborn is about 60 cm, weight up to 4 kg. Milk feeding lasts about one month. During this time, the cubs' body length increases by approximately 10 cm, and their weight doubles. Then the growth rate slows down. By winter, the body weight of young seals reaches 12 kg, and their length is 80 cm or more. One-year-old seals have a body length of up to 84 cm and a weight of up to 14 kg.

The ringed seal is the only seal that builds a nest for its young. In March or April, when the ice begins to break, the female makes a hole in a snowdrift with a tunnel leading to water.

Females give birth to one baby squirrel. Characteristic distinctive feature This species is that in many cases, cubs that have lost their mother do not die, but survive, but their growth is greatly slowed down, and as a result they remain dwarfs.

Female ringed seals reach sexual maturity in most cases at the age of 5-6 years, and give birth to their first offspring at the age of 6-7 years. Males begin breeding mainly at the age of 6-7 years. In ringed seals, growth stops at the age of 10 years.

The ringed seal's diet consists of two groups of animals - fish and crustaceans, and only those of them that form large aggregations in upper layers water.

Appearance

The body length of the Caspian seal is up to 150 cm, weight on average 70 kg. The body, although short in length, is relatively thick. The neck is not long, but noticeable, the head is small. The edges of the flattened vibrissae are wavy.

The coloring of this seal is different in animals of different ages and different sexes. Characterized by large individual variations in color. Basically, the upper surface of the body has a darkish background, the abdominal surface is light gray. On the sides the transition of tones is gradual. Dark gray, brownish, sometimes almost black spots of various sizes and shapes are randomly scattered throughout the body. On the back the spotting is more pronounced than on the belly. Males are colored more brightly and contrastingly than females.

Habitat

The Caspian seal lives only in the Caspian Sea, where it is found everywhere from the Northern Caspian Sea to the coast of Iran. The northern half of the sea is generally more populated than the southern half.

The Caspian seal makes regular seasonal, although not long, migrations. IN winter months Almost the entire population is concentrated in the ice zone of the Northern Caspian Sea. As the ice disappears, the animals move south and by the beginning of summer they are widely distributed throughout the waters of the Middle and Southern Caspian Sea. Here they feed heavily, and in early autumn they begin to move again to the Northern Caspian Sea.

Nutrition

The Caspian seal's diet consists of various types of gobies. The second place in nutrition is occupied by sprat. In even smaller quantities, these seals eat silversides, shrimp, and amphipods. Of valuable commercial fish Herring is sometimes found in their stomachs, which they eat at certain times of the year. small quantity. The composition of food changes little throughout the year.

Reproduction

The pup period of the Caspian seal is shorter than that of other species - from the middle of the last ten days of January to the end of the first ten days of February. The majority of females give birth to offspring during this period. Mating begins after the puppy and lasts from mid-February to early March. Reproduction and mating occur on the ice of the Northern Caspian Sea.

The female, as a rule, brings one large cub up to 75 cm long, weighing 3-4 kg. It is covered with long, silky, almost white hair. The duration of milk feeding is about 1 month, and during this period the length of the calf increases to 85-90 cm, and body weight - more than 4 times.

During the second and third decades of February, still during the lactation period, the cubs molt, replacing the baby's white hair. Molting cubs are called sheepskin coats, and young animals that have completely replaced their baby hair are called sivars. The short hair of the sivar has an almost uniform dark gray color on the back and a light gray (whitish) uniform color on the belly. As the animal grows with each annual molt, the spotted color appears more and more brightly.

Females apparently reach sexual maturity at 5 years of age, so most females give birth to their first offspring at the age of 6 years. After this, most mature females breed annually.

Seals do not form large and dense aggregations on the ice. Females with cubs are usually located at some distance from one another. They pup preferably on solid ice floes, in which holes (holes) are made even when the ice is thin. These holes do not freeze due to the animals’ constant use of them to get out onto the ice. Sometimes seals are forced to widen their holes with the help of sharp claws on their front flippers.

During molting, which occurs after the period of reproduction and mating, when the ice area decreases, Caspian seals form relatively dense aggregations. Animals that have not had time to moult on the ice sometimes (in April) lie down in groups on shalygs (sandy islands) in the northern part of the Caspian Sea.

IN summer months Caspian seals stay on open water scattered throughout the large water area of ​​the Middle and Southern Caspian Sea, and in the fall (September-October) they gather in the northeastern part of the sea, where they lie in dense groups (males and females of different ages) on shalygas.

Subclass: Theria Parker et Haswell, 1879= Viviparous mammals, true animals

Infraclass: Eutheria, Placentalia Gill, 1872= Placental, higher animals

Order: Pinnipedia Illiger, 1811 = Pinnipeds

Family: Phocidae Brooker, 1828 = Seals, true [earless] seals

Subspecies: Pusa hispida botnica Gmelin, 1788 = Baltic seal

Subspecies: Pusa hispida ladogensis Nordquist, 1899 = Ladoga seal

Subspecies: Pusa hispida saimensis Nordquist, 1899 = Saiman seal

The ringed seal, or akiba (Pusa hispida), is covered with coarse blackish-brown fur with numerous white rings irregular shape. The body length of an adult male is up to 1.8 m.

This is the only seal of all that builds a nest for its young. In March or April, when the ice begins to break, the female makes a burrow in a snowdrift with a tunnel leading to a vent and water. Newborns (sometimes twins) are covered with snow-white soft fur (the pup stage), which after a month gives way to darker fur.

The ringed seal appears to travel the furthest north of any mammal; She spends most of the year in ice-covered bays and fiords. In autumn, as the water freezes, the animal does not migrate south, but makes holes in the ice, to which it regularly swims up to breathe and rest. Sometimes this leads to a sad result, since a hunter with a harpoon or polar bear. Usually the seal spends 8–9 minutes under water, but if necessary, it can remain there for up to 20 minutes. When she surfaces, she manages to stock up on air for the next dive in 45 seconds.

The ringed seal is distributed circumpolarly in the Arctic Ocean, reaching as far south as Labrador and the Bering Sea.

There are four subspecies of ringed seal: Ringed seal (Phoca hispida hispida); Baltic ringed seal (Phoca hispida botnica); Ladoga seal (Phoca hispida ladogensis); Seal of Lake Saimaa in Finland (Phoca hispida saimensis)

Species: Pusa hispida Schreber = Ringed seal, ringed seal, akiba

Status: In Russia, the ringed seal is a commercial target. Not a CITES subject. Only the Ladoga subspecies is listed in the Red Book of Russia (category 3).

Currently in Russia industrial production There are no ringed seals. Several hundred heads are caught annually by the population of coastal areas for their own needs.

The heyday of industrial production of the species in our country occurred in the 1950-60s. when annually it reached tens of thousands of individuals (for example, in 1962, 13,570 seals were caught in the Barents and White Seas alone).

Appearance, weight: An adult animal averages 1.0-1.2 m in length and 50-80 kg in weight. A newborn calf is 0.6 m in length and about 4 kg in weight. Newborn cubs have white juvenile fur, which after 4-6 weeks changes to gray with dark rings, which is how the animal got its name.

Life cycle: The ringed seal is a typical pagophilic species, i.e. her life cycle closely related to the ice cover. Ringed seals become sexually mature at the age of 5-7 years. Mating occurs in January-March. Pregnancy lasts 11 months. In February-March, the female gives birth to one calf, which she nurses for 5-7 weeks. Molting takes place in the summer. Life expectancy is up to 40 years.

From the moment the ice cover forms, the pregnant female makes a maternity den in the ice. The lair is a shelter among the hummocks, connected to the water by a hole in the ice. By the time of whelping, the den is completely covered with snow and has no access to the surface. During the winter, the female maintains about a dozen similar shelters under the snow for resting and breathing and gives birth to a cub in one of them. For 5-7 weeks the cub remains in the den and does not go into the water.

Distribution: The ringed seal is distributed in all Arctic seas, as well as in the Barents and Okhotsk seas. Baltic Sea and Lake Ladoga inhabited by independent subspecies (Baltic and Ladoga seals). The distribution of the species largely depends on the ice cover of the water bodies on which these seals breed. It is believed that the species is not characterized by extended migrations, and local movements depend on the availability of food and changes in ice conditions.

Number: Ringed seal is one of the most numerous species marine mammals. Determining the number of seals, like other marine mammals, is extremely difficult. All assessments existing today are largely of an expert nature.

According to a rough expert estimate, the number of the species in the world is 1.2 million.

Diet: The diet of the ringed seal consists of various types of fish and zooplankton. The predominance of one species or another in the diet depends on the season and area of ​​habitat of the ringed seal. In each specific habitat area, the diet of the seal can amount to 10-15 various types, with an absolute predominance of 2-4 of them. Maximum length the bodies of ringed seal victims do not exceed 20 cm. In the Arctic seas great value has a polar cod (Boreogadus saida).

Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) is one of the most abundant fish in the Arctic seas. The most important food item for more large fish, marine mammals and birds.

Threats: Like other marine mammals, the greatest threat to the ringed seal currently comes from pollution in the world's oceans. In addition, premature destruction of the ice cover due to abnormally warm winter weather or icebreaking ships can lead to the death of a significant proportion of newborn calves. http://www.2mn.org/ru/mammals/species/ringed.htm#life

Author's work
Author: Vasilyeva E. and Fedotova E., students of grade 2-G, Gymnasium No. 196
Head: Glikman Elena Vladimirovna
Review: Eremina Lyubov Anatolyevna, teacher of biology, chemistry and geography MCOU "Selkovsky basic secondary school"

Appearance

The Baltic ringed seal is a marine mammal that belongs to the genus of small seals. It is also called ringed seal or akiba. Here's what Wiktionary says about this seal: "In general, the ringed seal is much smaller than the common seal; but it has a thick layer of fat under its skin." It is this layer that prevents the seal from freezing, which is why some subspecies of seals dare to swim far into the Northern Arctic Ocean. The body color is dark gray with light veins in the form of rings. Maybe that's why they call it the ringed seal? The front flippers are shorter than the hind ones. Head with a short muzzle. Average weight animals 80 kg, like a tall adult man.

Spreading

Inhabitant of the Arctic and subarctic waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Lives mainly in coastal shallow areas. Also inhabits the Baltic Sea, Lake Ladoga. In the northern seas of Russia, the seal is distributed from the Murmansk coast to the Bering Strait, including the White Sea, the waters of Novaya Zemlya, Franz Josef Land, Severnaya Zemlya, and the New Siberian Islands.
The Baltic ringed seal also lives in the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Riga.

Nutrition

In the Baltic Sea, seals eat mainly sprat, herring, gobies, crustaceans and, less commonly, cod. The seal eats up to 8 kilograms of this food per day.

Reproduction

Females give birth in the Baltic Sea - mainly in early March. Before that, she carried her offspring for 11 months. The female brings one, sometimes two cubs, covered with thick and soft fur. The baby is creamy white, which is why it is called squirrel. A newborn seal can go into the water and swim independently. Milk feeding of the cubs lasts 3-4 weeks, after which they become independent. After 6-7 years, adult animals will be able to reproduce.

Security

In 1970, there were about 12.5 thousand Baltic ringed seals in the Gulf of Finland and Riga. Today their numbers are decreasing. Previously, the number of these seals decreased due to hunting of these sea animals. Now seals breed less and less often, because the waters of the bays where they live are polluted by industrial and agricultural waste.
In the waters former USSR Since 1980, a ban on the hunting of Baltic ringed seals has been introduced.

The image of a seal can be found on postage stamps and in artistic works.

Gallery

Nerpa 1 001.jpg

Seal in the water

Nerpa-2-001.gif

Seal on land

Literature (sources)

• Airapetyants A.E., Verevkin M.V., Fokin I.M. Baltic ringed seal / Red Book of Nature of St. Petersburg. Rep. ed. G.A. Noskov. - St. Petersburg: ANO NPO "Professional", 2004. - 95-96 p.
• Atlas of Marine Mammals of the USSR. - City: " Food industry", 1980. - 39-40 p.
  
• Geptner V.G., Naumov N.P. Mammals of the Soviet Union. Volume 2, part 3. - City: Title, 1976. - 169-173 p.
• Ivanter E.V. Mammals. - Petrozavodsk: "Karelia", 1974. - 202 p.

Ladoga seals live and breed in the lake of the same name. Interestingly, this is their only habitat. But seals are the species to which the Ladoga seal belongs - marine animals. How do they manage to exist in a fresh body of water and how did they end up in this lake?

About 11,000 years ago, when the Ice Age ended, the water level changed. Thus, these mammals ended up in fresh water bodies.

Ladoga seal. Description

This animal has another name. It is also called the ringed seal because its fur is gray in color with dark rings on it. The abdomen is light. The external structure of the Ladoga seal resembles the constitution of its other relatives; it differs from them in its small size. It reaches 1.2 meters in length and weighs 50-80 kilograms. The seal looks thick and short. She practically has no neck. The head is small and slightly flattened. Powerful rear flippers help move both in water and on land. Her hearing and sense of smell are wonderful. Ladoga seals live for about 30-35 years, and growth ends at 10 years.

These mammals feed on small fish and crustaceans, the body length of which does not exceed 20 cm. The menu includes perch, roach, smelt and vendace. In total, this predator requires 3-4 kilograms of fish per day. In summer, when it is time to moult, Ladoga seals prefer the northern shore of the lake, especially the islands of Svyatoy, Lembos, Lisiy, Krestovy and others. In the warm season, they like to set up a rookery on the rocks; their number in one place can reach 600-650 individuals. And in winter they like the southern, western and eastern shores.

underwater life

The Ladoga seal feels better in water, even cold water, than on land. Her elongated body is specially adapted for active swimming. In addition, flippers help her with this. The thick layer of subcutaneous fat and the fact that the fur does not get wet prevents it from freezing. Having deftly dived to a depth of 300 meters, the seal can hold its breath for 40 minutes. This is possible due to the fact that her body is able to slow down its metabolism, and, therefore, it requires less oxygen. Moreover, vital organs are intensively supplied with blood: the head, liver and brain. The seal's endurance allows it to swim several tens of kilometers at a speed of 20 km/hour.

How do they reproduce?

For mating, these animals choose the cold season - January-March. They are ready for the process of childbearing when they reach 6 years of age. The baby is also born when there is snow. Typically, a ringed seal gives birth to one baby. It weighs only 4 kilograms and its body is 0.6 meters long. Its fur is white, so it is less noticeable to predators: foxes and wolves.

The mother feeds him milk for 1.5-2 months, her milk is so rich that the newborn gains 1 kilogram per day. After this, he begins to feed on his own. Nerpa is very fond of drifting ice floes. She finds holes in them and arranges a home for her offspring. During pregnancy, she makes several shelters in the ice; they have a hole through which you can go down into the water, as well as holes for breathing. Such a “house” does not have access to the surface, so the cubs are protected from attacks by external enemies. When the time comes, they, just like their mother, go down the hole into the water.

Why do they disappear

In recent years, the Ladoga seal has become an animal whose population is rapidly declining. I've already added it to my list. This is mainly due to human extermination. Previously, 20-30 thousand individuals lived in Lake Ladoga, but currently only 2-3 thousand seals live in it. The skin, fat, and meat of this animal are valuable, so they hunt it, but not on an industrial scale.

In the 20th century, the extermination of seals was not controlled, but today this is handled by the state fishery inspection. Fishing limits have been set. The destruction of the seal is also justified by the fact that it eats valuable species of fish in the lake. And this is despite the fact that scientists have proven that because of the small mouth, the seal in Lake Ladoga cannot eat large prey, which means that the population, for example, of salmon, has not decreased because of it. Opponents argue that these mammals eat fish caught in a net, since they do not need to swallow it, but only tear it off piece by piece, which they sometimes do for fun.

Additional factors

Ladoga seals also die because they get entangled in strong nets installed to catch fish, from which they cannot get out on their own. In addition, the very fact of human presence on the lake causes them inconvenience and makes them worry, which also does not contribute to an increase in their numbers. Another factor influencing the decrease in the number of Ladoga seals is pollution of the lake with sewage. After waste began to get into it, these mammals began to get sick more often, and their immunity decreased. may soon experience an environmental catastrophe.

Isn't it time to stop?

The discharge of harmful substances, toxic compounds, and heavy metal salts into the lake has been going on for several years. In addition, contaminated precipitation gets into the water. At the bottom of Lake Ladoga, areas were found where invertebrates do not live. Some fish are on the verge of extinction, for example, listed in the Red Book. This means a reduction in nutrition for the seal and gradual extinction from starvation. Warming, and therefore a decrease in snow cover, also has a bad effect on these animals. After all, they need ice floes, if only so that they have somewhere to hide their cubs and shelter themselves.

Measures taken

Biologists interested in saving the life of the Ladoga seal have created a pinniped rescue service in the village of Repino, Leningrad Region. This is the first such organization in Russia. Scientists use their experience and accumulated knowledge to help such mammals. Not only the Ladoga seal, but any of its relatives who are in trouble can find themselves under the supervision of the center. In winter, these are pinnipeds with impaired thermoregulation. There is a special heating point for them. Animals can live here for a while. Individual boxes are equipped for them. The personnel live in a place specially designated for them. Separately prepare food for animals. A swimming pool was built to speed up the adaptation of pinnipeds.

People are aware of the problem of possible extinction and are fighting to preserve the seal. Visits to areas where seals rest are limited and fishing in the lake is reduced. Although it is impossible to prohibit people from admiring a rare species of animal in its natural habitat. The main thing is to remember that in order to survive, the Ladoga seal does not require increased human attention, but a reasonable approach to resolving the issue of coexistence on this planet.

Ringed seals are small mammals from the genus of common seals. I also call them ringed seals or akibs. They got their name thanks to the interesting patterns on the back, shaped like rings. Thanks to their thick subcutaneous fat, these seals can withstand low temperatures, which allows them to settle in the Arctic and subarctic regions. In Svalbard, ringed seals breed on ground ice in all fjords.

In addition to the inhabitants of the northern seas, freshwater subspecies are also observed, which are found in lakes Ladoga and Saimaa.

Description

Akibas are small silver-gray to brown seals. Their bellies are usually gray, while their backs are darker and have a noticeable pattern of small rings, which is how they get their name.

The body is dense, short, covered with plush hair. The head is small, the neck is not long.

They have large claws more than 2.5 cm thick, thanks to which they cut holes in the ice. As is known, such burrows can reach depths of up to two meters.

Adult animals reach a length of 1.1 to 1.6 m and weigh 50-100 kilograms. Like all northern seals, their body mass varies markedly depending on the season. Ringed seals are fattest in the fall and significantly thinner in late spring and early summer, after the breeding season and annual molt. Males are slightly larger than females, and in the spring, males appear much darker than females due to the oily secretion of glands in the muzzle area. At other times of the year they are difficult to distinguish. At birth, the cubs are about 60 cm long and weigh about 4.5 kg. They are covered with light gray fur, lighter on the belly and darker on the back. Fur patterns develop with age.

Thanks to well-developed vision, smell and hearing, seals are excellent hunters.

Habitat and habits

As mentioned above, the main habitat of these cute predators is the Arctic and subarctic. Throughout most of their range, they use sea ice exclusively as a breeding, molting, and resting site. They crawl onto land rarely and reluctantly.

They lead an isolated lifestyle. They rarely gather in groups; this mainly happens during the mating season, in the warm season. Then in the coastal zone you can find rookeries of ringed seals, numbering up to 50 individuals.

Their ability to create and maintain breathing holes in the ice allows them to live even in areas where other animals, also adapted to low temperatures, cannot live.

Despite their good adaptation to frost, ringed seals sometimes face temperature problems in the Arctic winter. To protect themselves from the cold, they create lairs in the snow on top of the sea ice. Such burrows are especially important for neonatal survival.

Ringed seals are excellent divers. They are capable of diving to more than 500 m, although in the main feeding areas the depth does not exceed this mark.

Nutrition

Outside the breeding and molting season, the distribution of ringed seals is adjusted by the availability of food. Numerous studies have been conducted on their diet, and despite significant regional differences, general patterns emerge.

The main food of these animals is fish, typical for a particular region. As a rule, no more than 10-15 victims with 2-4 dominant species are found in the field of view of seals. They select food that is small in size - up to 15 cm in length and up to 6 cm in width.

They feed on fish more often than invertebrates, but the choice often depends on the season and the energy value of the prey.

Typically, the diet of the ringed seal includes nutritious cod, perch, herring and capelin, which are rich in the waters of the northern seas.

The consumption of invertebrate animals, apparently, becomes relevant in the summer, and predominates in the diet of young livestock.

Reproduction

Female ringed seals reach sexual maturity at the age of 4 years, while males only reach sexual maturity at the age of 7 years. Females dig small caves in thick ice on an ice floe or shore. The offspring are born after a nine-month pregnancy in March or April. As a rule, one cub is born. Weaning off milk takes just over 1 month. During this time, the newborn gains up to 20 kg of weight. After just a few weeks, they can stay underwater for 10 minutes.

After the birth of the babies, the females are again ready to mate, usually at the end of April. After fertilization, males, as a rule, leave the expectant mother in search of a new object for copulation.

The lifespan of ringed seals in the wild, according to various sources, is 25-30 years.

Number

Available data on ringed seal distribution were compiled and analyzed as part of the 2016 IUCN Red List for the five recognized subspecies. Estimates of the number of mature individuals and population trends for each of these subspecies were as follows:

• Arctic ringed seal - 1,450,000, trend unknown;
• Okhotsk ringed seal - 44,000, unknown;
• Baltic ringed seal - 11,500, population increase;
• Ladoga - 3000-4500, upward trend;
• Saimaa - 135 - 190, increase in subspecies.

Due to the large spatial scale, it is quite difficult to trace the exact number of subspecies in the Arctic and Okhotsk. Citing many factors, such as the vast habitats occupied by the species, uneven occupancy in the surveyed areas, unknown relationships between observed individuals and those not observed, make it difficult for researchers to establish the exact number.

However, the above figures indicate that the number of mature individuals is over 1.5 million and the total population is over 3 million individuals.

Security

In addition to polar bears, which pose the greatest danger to ringed seals, these animals often become victims of walruses, wolves, wolverines, foxes, and even large crows and gulls that prey on their cubs.

However, it was not the natural regulation of the population that caused ringed seals to be included in the Red Book, but the human factor. The fact is that, despite all the protective measures, many peoples of the north continue to hunt seals to this day as a source of valuable meat and skin.

In general, despite various programs, not a single reserve has been created in Mina in which ringed seals could freely increase their population.