Ringed seal

How it lives

Ringed seals live mostly alone. Strong claws on the front flippers let them keep breathing holes open in ice more than 1.8 m (6 ft) thick. In late winter and early spring a female gives birth to one pup in a snow-covered lair on the ice, and the pup nurses for about 5 to 7 weeks, the longest nursing period among true seals. Females mature at roughly 3 to 6 years and males at about 8 to 10. Most live about 25 to 30 years, with records up to 43. Polar bears are the main predator, and Arctic foxes, gulls, Greenland sharks and killer whales also take seals.

Where it goes

Ringed seals stay close to sea ice for most of the year, and some groups move north with the ice edge in late spring and summer. They are not known for fixed long migrations. I did not read Greenland tracking studies, so I cannot say how far individual seals travel there.

We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.

Populations

NAMMCO puts the total at about 3.5 million, of which about 3 million are Arctic ringed seals, and says the number is very uncertain. NOAA reports more than 300,000 in US waters. Greenland reports hunting catches of 40,267 in 2023 and 36,601 in 2024, down from more than 80,000 a year around 1999 to 2003, a fall NAMMCO links mainly to changes in hunting rather than depletion. The IUCN lists the species as Least Concern (assessment I could confirm: 2016). The Baltic, Saimaa and Ladoga subspecies are separate, and under US law the Arctic subspecies is listed as Threatened because of expected loss of sea ice and snow.