• Alaska Sealife Center, Seward, Alaska, USA
  • Alaska Sealife Center, Seward, Alaska, USA
  • Alaska Sealife Center, Seward, Alaska, USA
  • Alaska Sealife Center, Seward, Alaska, USA
  • Alaska Sealife Center, Seward, Alaska, USA
  • Alaska Sealife Center, Seward, Alaska, USA
  • Alaska Sealife Center, Seward, Alaska, USA
  • Alaska Sealife Center, Seward, Alaska, USA
  • Alaska Sealife Center, Seward, Alaska, USA
  • Alaska Sealife Center, Seward, Alaska, USA

Photo Ark

Ringed Seal

Pusa hispida

Alaska Sealife Center, Seward, Alaska, USA

Least Concern

Available data on Ringed Seal abundance were compiled and reviewed in the 2016 IUCN Red List assessments for the five recognized subspecies. Estimates of the number of mature individuals, and population trend, for each of those subspecies were as follows: Arctic Ringed Seal--1,450,000, trend unknown Okhotsk Ringed Seal--44,000, trend unknown Baltic Ringed Seal--11,500, trend increasing Ladoga Seal--3,000-4,500, trend increasing Saimaa Seal--135-190, trend increasingThe world-wide population size of Ringed Seals is not accurately known. Some recent survey data are available from parts of their range (see subspecies assessments), but for the Arctic and Okhotsk subspecies data are limited in spatial scope. ... Read More

Ringed Seals carry loads of organochlorine and heavy metal contaminants from industry and agriculture that have been implicated in uterine pathology in Baltic Seals (Bergman and Olsson 1986), and high concentrations of mercury in Saimaa Seals is thought to have reduced pup production in the 1960s and 1970s (Sipilä and Hyvärinen 1998, Kostamo et al. 2002). However, following restrictions on the use and release of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) into the environment, contaminant levels are dropping rapidly in the Baltic (Kostamo et al. 2002). The same is true with regards to POPs in Arctic populations (Wolkers et al. 2008). Oil ... Read More

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Lowry, L. 2016. Pusa hispida. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T41672A45231341. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T41672A45231341.en