#saimaa seal

[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: Norppa Identified.

[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!! 🦭🩵🇫🇮

[thalassata]

witness the rarest puppies on earth

[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.)

[jonnaan994]

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 👍

[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)

[jammiedoggo]

Finnish saimaa ringed seal

[mlobsters]

captions on tiktok

posting this almost exclusively because now I wanna draw this beautiful chonky saimaa ringed seal

[fnafoceansoffun]

With Halloween being a popular time at Oceans of Fun, what better to bring in than a little goth rocking fortune teller? Salvatore, or Sal, may be aloof and unexpressive, but this skeletal painted saimaa ringed seal will captivate you with his fortune telling and mystic ways. Though he’s typically only available in October, he has been known to join the pinniped party for special occasions as guests want. Though he prefers to stay to himself, he will happily show his musical chops and maybe even share a nice shell he has collected to curious guests.

[sealsdaily]

Heya!

How about the saimaa ringed seal?

Most Photogenic Thang

[you-hate-time-travel]

The saimaa ringed seal is one of THREE lake seal species in the WORLD+???? what the fuck... i thought there'd be a few more but nay.

[nosfeh]

"Destroy all nets" #linocut 23*31cm 2023. edition of 23 50€ print, 100€ framed. + postages #nosfe #nosfeart #norppa #seal #sea #lake #art #printmaking #contemporaryprintmaking #finnishartist #fineartprints #suomi #saimaa (at Somerniemi, Länsi-Suomen Lääni, Finland) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpx-vhatdSM/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[evergreenbutch]

ID: two pairs of photos. the first photo is a blue-grey seal with a dappled pattern on its back consisting of pale outlines of round shapes. it is paired with a photo of sunlight on water, creating similar round white-ringed shapes. the third photo is of a baby deer curled up on the ground, with small white spots on its brown back. it is paired with a photo of a dirt path through a forest with many small spots of sunlight. end ID.

my watery friend... are you too brushed with the pattern of the dappled light...?