Ringed Seal

Ringed seals are creatures of the sea ice. They use it year-round, hauling out to rest and give birth. They stay farther north than any other pinniped, remaining on permanent pack ice even when conditions become extreme. In the coldest months, when the sea freezes over completely, they disappear from view. They live under the ice, surfacing only at their breathing holes. The ringed seal is the only mammal reliably recorded at the North Pole.

The ringed seal’s core adaptation is physiological. A thick blubber layer insulates against near-freezing water and doubles as an energy reserve. In late spring, breeding draws down fat faster than the seal can replace it. The blubber is what carries them through. The pale ringed coat provides camouflage against broken sea ice, which matters when polar bears are hunting by sight from above.

To survive under ice, ringed seals maintain a network of breathing holes through the frozen surface using the strong claws on their front flippers. They keep several holes open at once across a wide area, so if a bear stakes out one entrance, they have others. Their diving capacity is built for the same purpose. A ringed seal can reach 500 meters (1,640 ft) and stay down for nearly 40 minutes. No predator waiting at the surface can outlast that.

The Ladoga ringed seal faces a similar situation in Lake Ladoga in northwest Russia. It too was landlocked after glacial retreat, cut off from the Arctic population for thousands of years. Around 3,000–5,000 remain, making it endangered but less precarious than its Finnish cousin.