Ringed Seal

Ringed seals (Phoca hispida) are the most prevalent and widespread seals in the Arctic environment. In Alaska, Ringed seals inhabit three seas: The Northern Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. Researchers found the seal as far south as the Aleutian Islands. During wintertime, The Ringed seals are bountiful close to beaches in the shorefast ice. Because the seals in winter stay close to the shore the Eskimos use the seal as food and usable products made from the skeleton and skins.

The Inupiat Eskimos call the Ringed seal Natchek and to the Yupik-speaking Eskimos of the Bering Strait call it Niknik.

Ringed seals are the smallest of all pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walruses) with adults in Alaska rarely exceeding five feet in length and 150 pounds. Ringed seals weigh the most in the winter and early spring when they have a thick layer of blubber under their skin. The blubber serves as insulation and as an energy source during the breeding and pupping season. The weight of Ringed seals declines with the decrease in feeding during the reproductive and molting season.

The color of ringed seals varies, but the basic pattern is a gray back with black spots and a light belly. The seal gets its name from the black spots ringed with light marks.

Ringed seals eat many invertebrates and fish. The particular species eaten depends on availability, depth of water, and distance from shore. In Alaska waters, the important food species are Arctic cod, saffron cod, shrimps, and other crustaceans.

Females give birth to a single, white pup in snow dens on pack ice during March and April. Female seals build lairs for protection from predators and severe weather. Young female seals lacking maternal experience give birth in poor habitat and may become subject to polar bear predation.

The average weight of pups at birth is ten pounds and in two months the newborn pup doubles its weight. Blubber provides the pup with insulation to reduce heat loss and an energy reserve to use while it learns to find its own food. Weaning usually takes place at ice breakup.

Most females breed again within a month after the birth of the pup but mplantation of the embryo delays until the middle of July or early August. The female is regnant for about eleven months. Female ringed seals first ovulate at five or six years of age and first give birth at six to eight years old and males become sexually mature at the same age.

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