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Ringed seal

The ringed seal has five different subspecies. The Baltic ringed seal lives in the northern part of the Baltic Sea while the Arctic ringed seal inhabits the North Pole region, where the young seals form the most important source of food for polar bears. Every once in awhile, a lost ringed seal, usually from the North Pole region, ends up in the southern North Sea.

The ringed seal is also referred to as the 'small seal', and indeed it is smaller than the harbour seal with its average length and weight of 1.40 meters and 90 kilograms, respectively. It has a short, wide body giving it a fattier appearance than other species. Furthermore, the seal is easy to recognize by its small dark rings on its fur. It can grow relatively old in the wild, over forty years old.

Hunting (by polar bears and people), pollution (from shipping and oil spills), fisheries (drowning in nets), disturbances and destroying the living areas form threats for the ringed seal.

In the winter, the Arctic ringed seal lives under the ice and makes breathing holes for taking in air. Polar bears often wait by such holes in order to catch a ringed seal when it surfaces. Ringed seals make fortresses from snow on the ice, where the young are born between mid March through mid April. After nursing for one and a half months, the pups are nice and fat. They then need to catch their own fish and loose lots of weight during the learning process. The juveniles often disperse in all directions. A number of these seals sometimes end up in the southern North Sea during the summer months, as can be seen in the stranding table below. These lost seals are even occasionally found as far south as Portugal.

Distribution of the ringed seal

Beaching of ringed seals along the Dutch coast

date place and details
November 1879 Rockanje, sex unknown
29 July 1889 Zoutkamp, female
August 1923 Oostvoorne, sex unknown
July 1957 Texel, sex unknown
4 July 1968 Texel, sex unknown
23 August 1972 Breskens, female
29 July 1972 Rilland-Bath, sex unknown
25 July 1973 Engelsmanplaat, female
22 July 1977 Ameland, male
1 August 1977 Zierikzee, female
5 August 1977 Holwerd, female
9 June 1978 Texel, female
21 July 1979 Schiermonnikoog, female
18 June 1980 Bergen op Zoom, female
16 October 1980 Beneden Merwede, female
18 July 1982 Rockanje, female
28 July 1982 Oosterhout, female
13 July 1985 Texel, male
21 July 1985 Moddergat, male
25 July 1985 Terneuzen, female
15 July 1987 Ouddorp, sex unknown
1 August 1988 Pieterburen, male
14 July 1990 Breezanddijk, male
18 July 1990 Texel, female
7 December 1991 Wassenaar, male
2 March1993 Zoutelande, sex unknown
20 July 1994 Schiermonnikoog, female
31 August 1994 Grevelingenmeer, male
April 1996 Schiermonnikoog
1999 Terschelling, young animal, sex unknown
2002 Terschelling
2007 Wierum, male
August 2008 Texel, young female, alive
Source: van Bree, 1996 and reports from Seal Sanctuary Pieterburen

Weblinks

For more information about ringed seals:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringed_Seal
http://www.pinnipeds.org/species/ringed.htm

Names:
Dut: Ringelrob (stinkrob, kleine zeehond))
Eng: Ringed seal
Fren: le phoque annelé, le phoque marbré
Ger: Ringelrobbe
Lat: Phoca hispida (Pusa hispida)
Dan: Ringsælen
Nor: Ringsel
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