Ringed Seal: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Seals and Sea Lions · day 6 of 7

Five facts

1. Look at its back and sides: dark spots circled by pale rings. That pattern gives the ringed seal its name.
2. It is the smallest and most common seal of the Arctic, with a plump body and a short snout a bit like a cat's.
3. Its front flippers carry claws over 2.5 cm thick. It uses them to keep breathing holes open through ice up to 1.8 m thick.
4. In spring, a mother hollows out a hidden den in the thick ice and gives birth to her pup inside it.
5. Not all ringed seals live at sea. Two kinds live in fresh water, in Lake Saimaa in Finland and Lake Ladoga in Russia.

The quiz

1. Where does the ringed seal get its name?

• A ring of fat around its neck
• Dark spots circled by pale rings (correct)
• The rings it makes in the water
• Its round eyes

Its coat has dark spots surrounded by light grey rings.

2. What kind of snout does the ringed seal have?

• Long, like a dog's
• Flat, like a duck's bill
• Short, a bit like a cat's (correct)
• Pointed, like a fox's

It has a small head and a short, cat-like snout.

3. What does the ringed seal use its thick front claws for?

• Keeping breathing holes open in the ice (correct)
• Climbing trees
• Digging for worms on the beach
• Building nests on land

Its claws keep breathing holes open through ice up to 1.8 m thick.

4. Where does a ringed seal mother give birth?

• In the open sea
• In a den she makes in the ice (correct)
• On a sandy tropical beach
• In a tree hollow

Females build lairs within thick ice and give birth inside.

5. Where does a freshwater kind of ringed seal live?

• Lake Victoria in Africa
• Lake Titicaca in South America
• Lake Geneva in Switzerland
• Lake Saimaa in Finland (correct)

One subspecies lives in Lake Saimaa, another in Lake Ladoga.

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