Nerpa belongs to which family. Baikal seal

Scientists claim that the seal lived on the territory of Lake Baikal already in the Tertiary period cenozoic era, that is, approximately 1.6 million years ago, and its ancestors lived in northern seas the Arctic Ocean shortly before. Another version says that the seal got to Baikal along the Lena River, which is believed to have had a runoff from Baikal.

The ancestors of the modern seal found suitable conditions in Baikal for themselves and quickly adapted to the features of the ancient reservoir, and then stayed there to live. The first mention of the Baikal seal is in the reports of pioneers who came to Baikal in the 17th century. The scientific description of the seal was first made during the Great Northern Expedition, which was organized by the "Russian Columbus", the traveler Vitus Bering.

Fact 2: The seal saves the omul

seal closes food chain Baikal, and its only enemy, oddly enough, is man. Despite their clumsy appearance, the seal can reach speeds of up to 25 km per hour in water and has still retained the ability to swim into rivers and travel hundreds of kilometers.

The Baikal seal is not only an outstanding swimmer, but also a well-equipped underwater hunter. Large eyes provide her with a catch even in low light conditions. Diving to a depth of up to 300 meters, the seal can withstand a pressure of 31 atm. The seal feeds mainly on golomyanka-goby fish, and in such quantities that it can eat more than a ton in a year.

Thanks to its hunting, this nimble animal has a huge impact not only on the ichthyofauna of the lake, but also on its entire ecosystem. For example, eating at least 50 thousand tons of small and large golomyankas per year, the seal thereby saves thousands of tons of important inhabitants of Baikal from extinction - macrohectopus, epishura and other crustaceans that would have been eaten by golomyankas. In turn, these crustaceans are the main food not only for golomyankas, but also for everyone's favorite omul and other species. commercial fish. In this way, the seal provides food for Baikal fish and save them from extinction.

Fact 3: Nerpa is a talented builder

The seals wait out the winter under the ice, scratching special vents for breathing in its thickness. Each animal maintains several of these open vents. In hummocks, female seals build real snow houses for themselves, where pups are born in February-March: this is how young seals are called because of their white and yellow color.

The color serves as their main defense against predators (crows, foxes or wolves prey on weak cubs) and makes the babies invisible on the snow-white Baikal ice. Inside such shelters, which mothers equip for their children, a special microclimate is formed, in which even in 20-degree Siberian frosts the temperature can reach 5 degrees Celsius. Here, the babies spend the first 4-5 weeks of their lives, and the mother leaves them only for the duration of the hunt. The cubs feed on their mother's fat milk (the fat content of milk is 50-60%) and have time to grow from 3-5 kg (at birth) to 20-30 kg. Wherein total weight his body increases by 7-9 times, and the mass of subcutaneous fat - by 22 times. The fat of mother's milk is deposited in the cub under the skin, forming a kind of fat "bag" on the body. This "bag" plays the same role as a sleeping bag for a person.

Fact 4: Seals have their own "sanatoriums"

However, everyone who is seriously interested in Baikal knows that the Baikal seal has a favorite place where you can see hundreds or even thousands of individuals. This place is the small Ushkany Islands. Such coastal rookeries become a kind of sanatoriums or "rest houses": animals often accumulate there, which need rest and recovery. The reason may be wounds that have not healed after the winter, molting that has not been completed in time, or other health problems that the seal swims to heal in the Baikal sun.

Fact 5: The seal has its own alarm clock

In fact, seals cannot breathe underwater. Under experimental conditions, in a large aquarium, the seal can be under water for up to 68 minutes. In nature, the Baikal seal is under water for up to 20-25 minutes - this is enough for him to get food or escape from danger.

But at the same time, the seal can sleep in the water, and its sleep lasts as long as there is a supply of oxygen in the lungs. The question is, how can she sleep in the water, if in the active state she can be under water for no more than 25 minutes? The fact is that when the seal sleeps, it consumes much less oxygen, as it is in an immobilized state. If you swim up to a sleeping seal, it will not wake up, even if you touch it or turn it over in the water. So only a lack of oxygen can wake up a seal. Here is such a reliable alarm clock!

The Baikal seal is one of three species of freshwater seals that live on our planet. This animal is endemic and the only mammal living in the waters of Lake Baikal, located in the south Eastern Siberia. It is considered one of the most interesting objects of the so-called ecological tourism, which is rapidly gaining popularity. Read more about the lifestyle and habitat of the Baikal seal later in this article.

Short description

Adult animals can reach a length of 165 cm, and their weight varies between 50-120 kg. The growth of seals stops only at the nineteenth year of life, however, at the same time, body weight can periodically gain or decrease. The Baikal seal lives on average 55-60 years.

Under water, the animal usually swims at a speed of no more than 8 km / h, but during hunting or in case of a threat, it can increase significantly. Getting ashore, the seal slowly moves with the help of flippers and tail, however, sensing danger, it gallops rather dashingly, pushing them off the ground.

Baikal seals do not need to dive too deep. The fact is that they feed on such non-commercial fish as golomyanka, omul and goby, which are found in the illuminated areas of the lake. But, despite this, they are able to dive to a depth of 200-300 m and withstand a pressure of 21 atmospheres. The seal can be under water for more than one hour. This time is quite enough to find food or escape from persecution.

The first mention of the animal

It belongs to the beginning of the 17th century. At that time, the second Kamchatka, or, as it was also called, the Great Northern Expedition, organized by Vitus Bering himself, passed here. It also included a group of researchers headed by I. G. Gmelin. It was she who was engaged in a more in-depth study of the nature of Lake Baikal and its environs. It was then that a seal was first seen, which was later called a seal.

Then the locals claimed that the same animal was found not only in the waters of Lake Baikal, but also in the Baunt lakes. It is assumed that the seal could get there in two ways - through the Lena or Vitim rivers. Some researchers are inclined to the version that the seal could have penetrated there directly through Baikal, since it had previously communicated with these lakes. However, none of the above assumptions has yet been able to find reliable confirmation.

Favorite habitats

The Baikal seal can be found throughout the reservoir, but the largest concentration of these animals is most often observed in the middle and northern parts of the lake. However, the most favorite place their habitats are the Ushkany Islands, which are part of national park under the name "Zabaikalsky".

If there is no ice on the lake, the seals prefer to rest, lying on the rocks protruding from the water and basking in the sun, alternately exposing one or the other side to its warm rays. The largest number these animals can be observed in June, when they come to the surface for a long time and are located along the rocky shores of the Ushkany Islands.

Where does the Baikal seal winter?

In the cold season, animals live on the ice in special lairs located under the snow. Often they are found in hummocky areas of the lake. When Baikal begins to freeze, animals make the main ice on the ice, the average diameter of which is about 150 cm. It is interesting that seals can keep it in this state for a long time, from time to time removing the ice formed on it.

With the onset of severe frosts, when the lake freezes, these animals, being under a layer of snow, breathe only through secondary vents. To do this, they rake the ice with the help of their forelimbs, which end in strong claws. Thus, a seal's lair can have up to a dozen such vents located along its perimeter. The diameter of the secondary vents is no more than 15 cm. Such a hole is quite enough for the animal to stick its nose in there.

reproduction

Puberty in these animals occurs already in the fourth year of life in females and in the sixth in males. The period of bearing cubs of Baikal seals lasts 11 months. After the female is 40 years old, she is no longer able to give birth. In her entire life, she can give birth to 20, and under favorable conditions, more cubs.

Before giving birth, the female prepares a reliable snow shelter. Usually one or two cubs are born. The weight of newborns is no more than 4 kg. Seals have a soft white fur, which is why they are often called pups.

Caring for offspring

The snow lair is quite warm: at outside temperature at -20 ⁰C inside the "room" it is +5 ⁰C. Baby seals stay in the shelter for five weeks. During this time, they eat only mother's milk and do not leave it for a minute. Before the lair begins to collapse, the squirrel manages to molt. The female leaves her cub only to hunt.

The lactation period for seals is about 60-75 days. It can last much longer, as it directly depends on the presence of ice cover. Before the babies begin to hunt on their own, they completely molt. At the same time, their fur turns from white to gray-silver. Color change occurs gradually and lasts about three months. In adult seals, the fur has a brownish-brown color.

The Baikal seal, starting from birth, knows how to build vents. This fact was confirmed by a specially conducted experiment. To do this, a small sheet of foam plastic 5 cm thick was placed directly on the water in the aquarium, while the rest of the space was left free. Several small seals, whose age did not exceed two months, began to make blowholes in the floating platform - special holes through which they breathed, sticking their nose in there. Surprisingly, the cubs did this, despite the fact that there was open water next to them. However, they, as if not noticing this, swam up from below, inhaled the air and again descended to the depth.

To conduct this experiment, several Baikal seal cubs were caught, which were no more than two weeks old. At this age, they still feed on their mother's milk, which means that the animals have never been immersed in water in their lives. When they grew up a little, during the first voyage, the seals demonstrated that the ability to make vents in the ice is their innate ability.

Another interesting fact is that this animal is able to sleep for quite a long time right in the water, while practically not moving. Sleep can continue until the oxygen in the blood runs out. It is so strong that scuba divers can swim up to Baikal seal close and even turn it over, and the animal continues to sleep peacefully. Such fearlessness of seals is due to the fact that natural enemies in this ecological environment They dont have. For them it represents real threat only human activity.

Animal fishing

The Baikal seal, whose photo is located in this article, is an object of hunting. Its meat, fat and fur are especially valued, from which hats are sewn. In addition, hunters often use the skin to pad their skis. Seal meat can be eaten. They also eat boiled flippers, which are considered a delicacy. The most tender and tasty is the meat of young individuals.

In ancient times, seal fat was used in soap making and leather production. In 1895-1897 animal fat in in large numbers used to illuminate the mines that are part of the Lena gold mines. Concerning local residents, then they were sure that seal fat was healing, so they used it for stomach ulcers, as well as for various pulmonary diseases.

The hunting season for the Baikal seal begins in April and lasts as long as it is possible to move around the frozen lake. In addition, the animal can be caught with the help of nets. This method is more rational, since there are no losses that occur during shooting. The fact is that wounded animals often go under the ice. Where they die. Nowadays, seal hunting is not prohibited. Every year, at least 5-6 thousand seals are caught or shot.

Cause of mass death

It first happened in 1987. IN Lately Some scholars have been investigating the causes mass death animals. Their diagnostics showed that the seals died due to the carnivore distemper virus. Interestingly, this disease affects both domestic and wild animals.

There is documented evidence that about one and a half thousand individuals died from distemper in 1987 and 1988. At the same time, fishing during the 80s of the last century amounted to at least 5 thousand heads. Fortunately, the Baikal seal was not included in the Red Book, as it was noticed that the population of the animal exceeded the optimal number. In addition, such shooting, according to scientists, is even useful, as it helps to reduce intraspecific competition and allows animals to gain weight faster.

It breathes air, feeds its young with milk, and eats fish. Miracle Yudo? Of course not, and the most highly developed animal among the representatives of the Baikal fauna is the Baikal seal.

Uniqueness in everything

The uniqueness of the Baikal seal lies in the fact that it is the only mammal that lives on. Belongs to the family. Enough large mammal, body length reaches up to 140 cm, and weight reaches a full 90 kg. Males are always larger and heavier than females. Even a newborn cub is particularly weighty; at birth, it weighs about 3 kilograms.

The color is rather monotonous light gray on the back, closer to the belly, the transition to yellow begins. Such, dull at first glance, coloring perfectly masks the seal. In nature, she has no natural enemies, the only one who hunts her is a man.

The skin of the seal is considered the warmest and most practical, so the fishermen catch this animal. The indigenous inhabitants of Transbaikalia are happy to use the meat of the hunted seal for food.

Nature and biology create perfection

The seal has very powerful paws crowned with strong nails, which allows it to tear apart a thin part of the ice in winter in order to breathe oxygen. The constant presence under water at dusk has formed a certain device of the eyes, they are rather convex, which allows the seal to easily get its own food. The seal can stay under water for up to an hour, holding its breath for this period, it is an amazing swimmer, thanks to the increased concentration of hemoglobin, it can dive up to 300 meters deep.

Her habitat habitats - water depths, despite its impressive dimensions, it is very maneuverable and dexterous in water, under water it can reach speeds of up to 25 km / h. But, like all seals, it is completely clumsy on land, in moments of danger, being on the shore, it can go to the races, which looks pretty funny.

Seals are beautiful and graceful animals.

The favorite food of the seal is the small and large golomyanka, long-winged goby, yellow-winged goby, sandy sculpin. Golomyankas occupy the main stage in the nutrition of seals. The seal eats from 3 to 5 kg of fish per day. And it takes 2-3 hours to digest food in the stomach.

The sacrament of birth or where seals come from

Females after 4 years of life are ready for mating and reproduction, but males are a little behind and mature a couple of years later. The mating season for seals lasts from late March to late April. At this time, the males make every effort to invite the female to the ice to mate. And if successful, a small seal will be born in 11 months. natural feature It consists in delaying pregnancy for 2-3 months, that is, a fertilized egg may be in the fading stage, and only after this period, the female's pregnancy will begin to develop.

It is the female who takes care of the place of the future birth for her cubs, usually this is a den in the snow, since the cubs appear in winter. After the birth of the baby, the seal mother will feed him with milk for 3 months. Baby seals are born completely dependent on their mother, their skin is painted white. During the feeding period, the mother will only go fishing for her own food, the female spends the rest of the time with the babies. When she is in the lair, the temperature there rises to +5, although outside it the temperature can drop to -15.

Real sea bump, the seal is one of amazing representatives of the animal world of our planet, connecting both marine and terrestrial lifestyles. In a broad sense, seals mean all representatives of the order of pinnipeds, mammals, in which, in the course of evolutionary transformations, instead of traditional paws, real flippers have developed. But usually seals mean animals from the family of real seals and our article is about them.

Seal: description, structure, characteristics. What does a seal look like?

The appearance of the seal is due to their aquatic lifestyle. On the one hand, flippers, which gave the name to the whole species - "pinnipeds", turn these clumsy ground bumps into excellent swimmers. On the other hand, seals, unlike whales and dolphins, have not lost their connection with the land, where everyone also spends a lot of time.

All seals are rather large animals. So the mass of a seal, depending on the species, ranges from 40 kg (for seals) to 2.5 tons (for sea ones). Also, the body length of a seal varies from 1.25 meters for the seal - the smallest among the family of true seals, then 6.5 meters for the elephant seal, whose name eloquently speaks of largest sizes this type of seal. And interestingly, many seals of the same species can change their size depending on the season, as they tend to accumulate seasonal reserves of fat, which then disappear.

The shape of the seal's body is elongated and streamlined, the neck is short and thick, it is crowned by the seal's head, which has a relatively small size, but with a flattened skull. The seal flippers have very developed hands and feet.

The body of the seal is covered with short and hard hair, which, on the one hand, does not impede their movement under water, and, on the other hand, protects its owner from the cold. The reserves of subcutaneous fat accumulated by seals for the winter also protect seals from the cold. In fact, this subcutaneous fat of seals performs a thermoregulatory function, allowing animals to easily endure the harsh Arctic and Antarctic cold. The coloration of most species of seals is gray or brown, some species have a mottled pattern.

When you look at a photo of a seal, it seems that this creature is very clumsy and slow on land, and this is true, because when moving, seals rely on their forelimbs and stomach, while their hind limbs simply drag along the ground. Moreover, given the rather large mass of seals, it is really difficult for them to move on the ground. But once in the water, the seals are completely transformed, there is no trace of the slowness and clumsiness that is characteristic of them on land - in the water they are able to reach speeds of up to 25 km per hour. In addition, seals are excellent divers, capable of diving up to 600 m deep.

True, seals can spend no more than 10 minutes under water, during which time the supply runs out, which is located in a special air bag (under the skin of the seal) and you have to return to land again.

The eyes of seals, although larger, nevertheless, their vision is not very well developed (as, indeed, in all aquatic mammals), all seals are myopic. But poor eyesight is perfectly compensated by good hearing and especially sense of smell, so seals are able to pick up smells at a distance of 300-500 meters. Seals also have so-called tactile whiskers (they are also called “whiskers”) with which they navigate among underwater obstacles. It is also worth noting that some species of seals have the ability to echolocation, although it is much less developed in them than in whales and dolphins.

In seals, with the exception of a few species, there is no sexual dimorphism, that is, males and females look the same (only in the hooded seal and the elephant seal, the males have a special “decoration” on the muzzle). As for the reproductive organs, in seals, like many other aquatic mammals, they are hidden in the folds of the skin and are not visible.

Where does the seal live

The habitat of seals is very wide, we can say that this is the whole Earth. True, considering marine image life of seals, they all live on the coasts of the seas and oceans. Most species of these animals live in the cold latitudes of the Arctic and Antarctic, where, thanks to subcutaneous fat, they perfectly tolerate the local cold, but there are also such seals, such as the monk seal, that live in the warm Mediterranean.

Also, several species of seals, such as the Baikal seal, live in the inland lakes of the continents.

How long do seals live

The life expectancy of seals depends on whether it is a male or a female, females live longer than males, on average, their lifespan is 35 years, alas, males live an average of 10 years less - 25 years.

Seals lifestyle

Seals, although they form group concentrations - the so-called rookeries on the shores of the seas and oceans, unlike other pinnipeds, they are much less characterized by a herd instinct. For example, they feed and rest separately, and only in case of danger they monitor the behavior of their fellows.

Also, seals are very peaceful creatures, they practically do not quarrel among themselves, with the exception, of course, mating season when several males seek one female, in such a situation even peaceful seals can be furious.

As we wrote above, on the shore, seals are clumsy and slow, therefore, on rookeries, they are specially located closer to the water in order to dive into the water surface in case of danger. Also from time to time they just dive into the water for prey and then we move on to the next point.

What does a seal eat

Seals are predators, and their main source of food is various marine life: fish, mollusks, crayfish, crabs. Such large seals, such as the leopard seal, will not mind eating, say,.

Enemies of seals

In turn, the seals themselves can become the prey of other larger marine predators: sharks, killer whales. Also, danger can await Arctic seals on the shore in the form of whites and people (for example, the Chukchi hunt seals since ancient times).

Types of seals, photos and names

According to the zoological classification, there are 24 species of true seals, we will describe the most interesting of them.

This species of seal is perhaps the most thermophilic among seals, as it prefers cold Arctic and Antarctic cold. warm waters Mediterranean, Hawaiian and Caribbean islands, where it actually lives. Also, unlike other seals, it has a well-developed posterior part of the lower jaw. The body length of the monk seal is 2-3 meters and weighs 250 kg. It has a gray-brown color and a light belly, through which it received its second name - the white-bellied seal. Interestingly, in the past, monks also lived in the Black Sea, and they could be found on Black Sea coast our country, but recently the population of these seals has significantly decreased, by this moment all subspecies of the monk seal are listed in.

As you can guess from the name, the elephant seal is the most great view seals, its length can reach up to 6.5 meters with a weight of 2.5 tons. Also, some property with elephants gives not only big sizes, but also the presence of a hoto-shaped nose in male elephant seals. Depending on the habitat, elephant seals are divided into two subspecies: the northern elephant seal lives on the coast North America, and the southern elephant seal lives in Antarctica.

Named after the English explorer James Ross. This is a relatively small Antarctic seal, well, how small, its body length is about 2 meters and weighs 200 kg. It has a very thick neck in folds, in which it may well hide its head. Little studied, because it lives in remote areas of Antarctica.

The crabeater seal, so named for its gastronomic addiction to crabs, is also the most numerous seal in the world - according to various estimates, its number is from 7 to 40 million individuals. It has medium dimensions for seals - body length - 2.2-2.6 meters, weight - 200-300 kg, long narrow muzzle. These seals live in Antarctica and the southern seas washing it, they often like to arrange their rookeries on ice floes, swimming with them.

Named for its spotted coat and predatory behavior, this species is considered the most dangerous and aggressive among seals. In particular, sea leopards do not disdain to attack smaller seals of other species, but penguins are their favorite delicacy. The size of the sea leopard is larger than that of many other species of seals, inferior only to sea elephant, the length of his body can reach up to 4 meters with a weight of 600 kg. It lives along the coast of Antarctica.

It is named after another Englishman - the British navigator Sir James Weddell, who was the commander of a research expedition in the Weddell Sea, during which this type of seal was first discovered by Europeans. Among other seals, the Weddell seal stands out for its remarkable ability to dive and stay under water - while many other seals can be in the depths of the sea for no more than 10 minutes, this seal can swim for an hour. Also lives in Antarctica.

Unlike its counterparts described above, this seal lives in the Arctic, mainly on the coast of North America, Greenland. It differs from other seals in its spotted coloration.

This species of seals, represented by four subspecies (depending on their habitats), lives throughout the northern Arctic hemisphere: on the shores of North America, Scandinavia, in the northern part of Russia. Some subspecies of the harbor seal are endangered due to their poaching.

The long-faced seal is so named because of its length, as even for seals, the muzzle. The body length of the long-faced seal is 2.5 meters and weighs up to 300 kg. It lives in the North Atlantic: on the coast of Greenland, Scandinavia and Iceland.

Another of the northern seals, living on the coast of Greenland itself. They differ from other types of seals in their characteristic coloration: only they have a silver-gray coat, a black head, and a black horseshoe-shaped line that stretches from the shoulders on both sides. The harp seal is relatively small - its body length is 170-180 cm, weight - 120-140 kg.

It differs from other seals in its unusual striped coloration of white and black flowers. Inhabits the Bering, Okhotsk and Chukchi Seas. The body length of a striped seal is 150-190 cm, weight - 70-90 kg.

Seal

The seal is the smallest species of seal, its average body length is 1.5 meters and weighs up to 100 kg. But this is, on average, the smallest among the subspecies of seals - the Ladoga seal, which lives in Lake Ladoga proper, has a body length of no more than 135 cm and a weight of 40 kg. In general, seals live in cold and temperate waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans, as well as in large lakes and inland seas. Depending on the habitat, such subspecies as the Caspian seal, the Baikal seal, the Ladoga seal are distinguished.

seal breeding

Seals breed, and all species, only once a year. Their mating season usually begins at the end of summer. During this period, skirmishes between competing males seeking the attention of one female are possible. She, as expected, will eventually choose the strongest male for mating.

The pregnancy of a female seal lasts a year, after which only one baby is born. True, he is born already a fully developed and adapted seal. Baby seals have white skin, so they are also called pups. They cannot accompany their mother in the water, so most time is spent on the shore or on a drifting ice floe. Very quickly fed on fatty mother's milk, rich in proteins, they begin to grow up and increase in size until they become adult self-sufficient seals.

The age of a dead seal can be determined by the number of circles at the base of its fangs.
The mother's milk of a female seal is the fattest in its composition (fat content in it exceeds 50%), the same fatty milk is found only in whales.
The Latin name of the seal in our language is translated as "small guinea pig” (however, not quite small).
Seals, like humans, can cry, but unlike us, they do not have lacrimal glands.

seal, video

And finally, educational documentary about our today's heroes - "The mystery of the rookeries of the Caspian seal."

This article is available in English - .

May 25 marks the regional children's and youth ecological holiday- the day of the seal. It was first held in 2003 in Irkutsk.

The holiday very quickly became popular in many regions of Russia, including the Irkutsk region, the Republic of Buryatia and other regions of Siberia, and is included in the calendar of ecological dates. We have collected 10 unique facts about this rare mammal.

The Baikal seal is one of three species of freshwater seal found nowhere else but this lake. The main seal rookery is located on the Ushkany Islands, where you can find a lot of food and there are practically no people who pose the main threat to these animals.

Why is the Baikal seal interesting and unique?

1. The seal is the only mammal of Lake Baikal. According to morphological and biological features, the Baikal seal is close to the ringed seal that lives in the seas of the Far North and Far East. There are also some signs of similarity between the seal and the Caspian seal.

2. It is not known how the seal ended up in Baikal. Some researchers believe that she penetrated it into ice age from the Arctic Ocean through the Yenisei-Angara river system simultaneously with the Baikal omul. Others believe that the entire family of true seals (Caspian, Baikal and ringed seals) originally appeared in large freshwater reservoirs of Eurasia and only then settled in the Caspian Sea, the Arctic Ocean and Baikal. However, this mystery has not yet been solved.

3. The Baikal seal can accelerate under water up to a speed of 25 kilometers per hour. She is a consummate swimmer and can easily avoid danger at this speed.

4. The seal dives to a depth of 200 meters and remains under water for 20-25 minutes.

5. The seal can suspend pregnancy: no other animal on Earth can do this. In some cases, the embryo stops developing, but does not die and is not destroyed, but simply falls into suspended animation, which lasts until the next mating season. And then the seal gives birth to two cubs at once.

6. Pregnancy of seals lasts 11 months. Females puppies in March-April. fur seal white color, therefore they are called pups. This coloration allows them to remain almost invisible in the snow in the first weeks of life. With the transition to self-feeding by fish, the cubs molt, the fur gradually acquires a silver-gray color in two or three months old, and in older and adult individuals it becomes brown-brown.

7. The fat content of Baikal seal milk is 60%. The nutritional properties of milk help seals gain weight quickly.

8. Seals build their winter homes from under the ice. They swim up to a suitable place, make holes - vents, scraping the ice with the claws of their forelimbs. As a result, their house from the surface is covered with a protective snow cap.

9. The Baikal seal is a very cautious, but inquisitive and intelligent animal. If she sees that there is not enough space on the rookery, then she begins to rhythmically spank with flippers on the water, imitating the splash of oars, in order to frighten her relatives and settle in the vacant place.

10. Seals live 55-56 years. Adult animals reach 1.6-1.7 meters in length and 150 kilograms of weight. Sexual maturity occurs in the fourth or sixth year of life. Females are able to bear fruit up to 40-45 years.

From whom should the Baikal seal be protected?

Huge losses of the Baikal seal were recorded in 1996, mainly due to licensed and poaching hunting, as well as chemical pollution of the lake.

“Today, the approximate number of Baikal seals is from 75 to 100 thousand heads. This is quite a lot, but fishing is not being carried out now,” said Mikhail Kreindlin, Greenpeace expert on specially protected natural areas.

Formally, the Baikal seal is still commercial species and is not listed in the Red Book, but hunting for it was banned in 1980. Until 2009, a quota was issued for industrial capture of 50 animals. Since the end of 2014, the quota has been issued only to research institutes.

“Currently, a drop in the number of seals is not recorded, but the state of Baikal cannot but affect its inhabitants. For example, the recent drop in the water level has led to the drying of spawning grounds for fish, the main food for seals. There are also threats that have not yet been realized, for example, the construction of the Shuren hydroelectric power station on the Selenga River largest tributary lakes, which can also lead to severe shallowing and will indirectly threaten the seal too," said Mikhail Kreindlin.

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