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Baikal Seals
Some of the world's only freshwater seals live in one very special lake in Russia
Category Natural Wonders, Fascinating Fauna
Harbour seals, grey seals, elephant seals - these all share a common habitat, the ocean. The Baikal Seals are one of the only seals to live exclusively in freshwater. (The only other species of freshwater seals are the 260 Saimaa Ringed Seals found in Lake Saimaa in FInland and the 2,000–3,000 Ladoga Ringed Seals in Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia.) They are named after Lake Baikal, the only place where these special little seals are found.
Lake Baikal in Siberia is itself a record-holding site. It is the world's oldest lake, dating from 25 to 30 million years ago, and the world's largest lake, 395 miles wide and more than 5,000 feet deep.
The seals are relatively small, about four feet long and weighing around 150 pounds each. They survive on the small fish that reside in the lake.
Every winter, the lake freezes over. In order to breath during these months of frost and darkness, the seals dig breathing holes with their sharp claws and sometimes with their teeth. Pregnant females will spend most of the winter on the ice.
Though some poaching has reduced the seal population, local governments now restrict hunting and the population is a comfortable 80,000 animals. Because this is their only habitat, though, the seals would be easily threatened if the ecosystem was disrupted.
Zoologists have hypothesized that the seals came to the lake when it was still connected to the Arctic Ocean.
See an error? Know more? Edit this place.
- Address Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia
- Conserve Nature: Baikal Seal: http://www.conservenature.org/marine_mammals/baikal_seal.htm
- The Encyclopedia of Earth: Baikal Seal: http://www.eoearth.org/article/Baikal_seal
Comments
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Thanks for your comments, guys. We've updated the page to reflect the information you passed along. We couldn't do it without you!
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Great place! I have been to almost all of the largest lakes in the world but not Baikal (probably the best of the lot) yet. I hope to someday see it and maybe even see a wonderful seal. You have inspired me to enter my own favorite seal enclave in Oregon.
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Anonymous
July 29, 2010
Wonderful though the Baikal seals are, they are not the only freshwater seal species. There is also the Saimaa Ringed Seal, living in Lake Saimaa in Finland: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saimaa_Ringed_Seal -
Good piece, as always. However, in this case you might want to check "the world's only freshwater seal" though: Saimaa seals (Phoca hispida saimensis) are found only in Lake Saimaa in eastern Finland. It is a highly endangered species, with only a few hundred individuals remaining. See: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/pinnipeds/saimaaseal.htm
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