Ross seal

How it lives

Ross seals live alone or in loose company on dense pack ice, which makes them hard to find and study. Pups are born in about mid-October to November. A mother nurses her pup alone for roughly 2 to 4 weeks, and mating follows after weaning, in the water. Adults moult from about late December to mid-February. Maturity comes at around 3 to 4 years in many sources, and wild animals live at least 18 to 20 years. Killer whales and possibly leopard seals take some of them.

Where it goes

Ross seals breed in dense pack ice, then move to more stable floes near the ice edge to moult. For the rest of the year they seem to spend much of their time in ice-free ocean, so where they are is poorly known. Sightings north of 60 degrees south are extremely rare. No fixed migration route has been described.

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

Circumpolar around Antarctica, with the most seals thought to be in the Ross Sea and King Haakon VII Sea. The total is uncertain. Survey-based estimates range from about 20,000 to 220,000 animals, and genetic estimates are about 130,000 to 254,000. A recent summary gives about 130,000 (with a wide range of 20,000 to 227,000). Direct counts probably undercount them, because many seals are in the water. The trend is unknown. IUCN: Least Concern (2015). It is also a Specially Protected Species under the Antarctic Treaty.