#saimaa seal

[hylianengineer]

hi! a quick correction to your progress list! saimaa ringed seal is still endangered, but in 2024, the population reached around 500 specimens, which is 5x times more seals than there were when the species was declared protected. it's still something to celebrate! just not quite moving up from being endangered.

source: https://yle.fi/a/74-20121619

[ID: A Saima seal floating in the water with its face peeking out. End ID]

Thanks for the correction!

I think what happened is that my source listed all those species as having 'recovered,' which I foolishly thought, for endangered species, must mean no longer endangered. I was wrong. Oops!

I'll update the other post accordingly.

[anthropologistfromentropy]

The seal part is not quite true, Lake Saimaa has an exclusively freshwater seal too! Though they might still technically be one species, they certainly aren't breeding with each other. They look basically the same though.

Do y’all ever think about how absolutely bananas Lake Baikal is? It’s the world’s largest lake by volume. It’s the world’s deepest lake. It’s the world’s oldest lake. It contains nearly a quarter of the planet’s surface freshwater. It’s a rift lake, caused by the earth’s crust literally coming apart at the seams. It would be deeper than the Mariana Trench except the bottom is covered in a sediment layer that is miles deep. There are trains that have sunk to the bottom because Russia tried to build a railroad over the ice. The entire lake surface freezes for half the year. The lake is a focal point of multiple indigenous cultures. The lake has its own species of seal, which is the only exclusively freshwater pinniped in the world. There are unique ice formations formed by convection from the depths of the lake. There are 330 inflowing rivers.

I dunno, Lake Baikal sure is a thing.

[sealsdaily]

Today's Seal Is: Leggies

[setzeri]

Happy to announce the new comic series, "Saimaa" done in collaboration with Finnish Association for Nature Conversation. Join the exciting life of the Saimaa Ringed Seal later this spring.

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Round Two: Roots & Relics

Saimaa Ringed Seal vs Coelacanth

Habitat: Underwater sea caves

Photos by Ismo Pekkarinen and Laurent Ballest

[holts-knees]

Special interest infodump time [facilitated by an art challenge I'm taking part in over on my instagram] this episode: The Saimaa Ringed Seal! The Saimaa Ringed seal is a subspecies of ringed seal endemic to Lake Saimaa in Finland. They have evolved separately from other species of glacial ringed seals for nearly 10,000 years after being separated in the forming of Lake Saimaa during post glacial rebound at the end of the last ice age. That prolonged and continued period of isolation has caused them to have broken off into their own, incredibly rare geographically specific and small numbered morphology [other animals to exhibit this include the Devil's Hole Pupfish of death valley]. Due to this nature, while they face endangerment due to the same reasons as many other seals [bycatch mortality, hunting, pollution etc] they also face it purely from a rarity angle, isolated species populations in the sub-1,000s are always going to be incredibly delicate by virture of not having the "padding" of large count numbers on their side.

That said! Conservationists in Finland work closely with the government to do their best to make sure these adorable freshwater seals have the best shot they can at sticking around, and Metsähallitus was very excited to report that this year was a record-high year for Saimaa Ringed Seal pups! Noting that their annual census for 2023 counted 100 pups [the highest count they have ever had! And a HUGE number considering the overall population of the species is estimated around 410 total seals] The organization thinks it's possible the continued increase may be caused by recent net fishing bans in certain parts of the lake allowing more seals to survive to reproductive age, and hope the bans can continue to expand to further parts of the lake as well to increase this encouraging and exciting momentum. Onnea teille pikku hyljit!! 🦭🩵🇫🇮

[cypherdecypher]

Animal of the Day!

Saimaa Ringed Seal (Pusa hispida saimensis)

(Photo from WWF)

Conservation Status- Endangered

Habitat- Finland

Size (Weight/Length)- 90 kg; 145 cm

Diet- Small fish

Cool Facts- The Saimaa ringed seal is one of the most endangered seals in the world with around 400 mature individuals. Only found in Lake Saimaa in Finland, they have been completely separate from any other species of seal for 9,500 years. While they exclusively eat fish, these seals eat almost every species that inhabit the lake. Despite this, the Saimaa ringed seal does not have an impact on the fishing industry of the area. Despite being protected from hunting for almost 70 years, the Saimaa ringed seal is on the brink of extinction. Due to the small size of the lake mixed with multiple bad breeding seasons in a row, certain fishing methods have been banned from Lake Saimaa along with artificial dens being installed on the beaches.

Rating- 14/10 (Check out Norppalive from WWF for some awesome videos and a live feed of these seals.)

[leafcreature]

❄️ ORPHAN ❄️

I’ve always wanted to paint a seal after living in Finland !

Finland’s biggest lake is home to one of the rarest seals in the world called Saimaannorppa. They have lived in complete isolation from other seal groups ever since the land rose during ice age and they became trapped into lake Saimaa. This caused them to evolve into a different subspecies, endemic to this lake!

The Saimaa ringed seal is also one of the most endangered seals in the world; around 400-500 seals remain in the lake today.

🌜 Closeups under the cut, along with a little talk about the symbols I used this painting! 🌛

I wanted the frame to contain plants and animals from the saimaa seal’s natural habitat as well as some symbolic elements.

🌿 I made sure to choose freshwater plants and fish because they live in a lake!

As for the symbols, you will recognise two animals from often overlooked constellations of the northern sky:

🐱 the lynx who appears in some northern mythologies & is said to be a bearer of clairvoyance due to its powerful eyesight.

🦊 the mythical creature tulikettu, a fox whose tail twinkles fire. When running through the night it leaves behind a trail of light, creating the northern lights (in finnish, revontulet, the fox fires)

Lastly because I’m always a fan of flower language, I added two beautiful flowers:

🤍 the Anemone which is said to have signified abandonment in medieval illuminations, or maybe “don’t abandon me”?

💙 the Myosotis, also known as “forget-me-not” in many languages due to the tale of a knight throwing this flower to his lady before falling into a lake. This flower also became a symbol for International Missing Children’s Day (may 25)

[usvakani]

Inktober Day 19: Plump

[mehilaiselokuva]

Finnish word of the day

Saimaannorppa

Saimaa (gen) + norppa

Saimaa: a place name of unknown origin. Largest lake in FInland

Norppa: Ringed seal. Probably a borrowing from Sami.

= Saimaa ringed seal Pusa hispida saimensis

The Saimaa ringed seal is an endangered seal living in the Saimaa fresh water lake. (It's very rare for a seal to live in fresh water!) There are about 440 of these little rolls left! If they die, the species will be completely lost. I'm very passionate about these seals!

Learn more about them (and maybe donate to them):

[This is Pullervo]

[This is Siiri]

[And one of my favorite pics] (from Suomen luonnonsuojeluliitto)

[heimantahei]

Saimaannorppa/Saimaa ringed seal! It's the rarest seal in the world, only existing in lake Saimaa 🇫🇮 The felted seal here is also made by me 👍

[brasskingfisher]

‘Like a giant bird box’: the volunteers building huge snowdrifts for Finland’s pregnant seals

‘Like a giant bird box’: the volunteers building huge snowdrifts for Finland’s pregnant seals

Helping an endangered seal species! Where do I sign up?

[sealsdaily]

Today's Seal Is: Norppa Identified.

[sealtrick]

Now Im curious what seals are the other panic guys???

(note when i say seal for seal assignments i am referring to seals as in clade pinniped, including true seals, sea lions, fur seals, and walruses)

sooooo i think brendon is a california sea lion because he really just feels like he needs external ear flaps. spencer is a northern fur seal. jon feels very south american fur seal. very otariidae band and i don’t know why

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Saimaa Ringed Seal

Habitat: Freshwater lakes

Strengths:

Can reach up to 90 kilograms (200 lb) in weight and 160 cm (5.25 ft) in length

Can dive for up to 15 minutes

Sharp teeth for catching and eating fish

Excellent eyesight; whiskers also provide extra sensitivity

Thick layer of blubber under the skin for insulation

Sharp claws on the ends of their flippers

Weaknesses:

Slow moving over land

Photo by Ismo Pekkarinen