sightings Sighting % Hauled Species (individuals) rate (1) out (n) Bearded seal 67 0.28 73 (49)
Harp seal 15 0.06 47 (7) Hooded seal 12 0.05 50 (6) Ringed seal 213 0.89 6 (13) Unidentified seal 5 0.02 0 (0) Total 312 1.30 24 (75) (1) Sighting rates are based on the number of individuals seen per hour of observation effort TABLE 2.
These climate and vegetation cycles coincide with the cultural patterns, notably the appearance of Groswater and Dorset Paleoeskimos with cooler periods, lower sea surface temperatures, and higher sea ice indices, factors that would have promoted large seasonal
harp seal populations in the Gulf.
Recent studies also indicated that temporal shifts in polar bear diets occurred (Iverson et al., 2006; Thiemann et al., 2008; McKinney et al., 2009), rendering the
harp seal potentially an important prey species where available.
The virus is believed to have originated in
harp seals in which the infection is enzootic (4).
PETA writes: "During Canada's annual seal massacre, hundreds of thousands of baby seals are shot or have their skulls crushed, all for the sake of 'fashion.' Sealers routinely hook seals in the eye, cheek, or mouth to avoid damaging the pelt, then drag the seals across the ice, in many cases without checking to ensure that they are unconscious." PETA doesn't mention that while hunting baby seals is allowed, hunting whitecoat seals - newborn
harp seals are white for about 12 days - has been illegal in Canada since 1987.
The
harp seal's ice habitat is fast melting, and will likely result in a high seal pup mortality this year, according to the Humane Society.
"We are overwhelmingly pleased that the Russian government has finally completed its pledge to protect
harp seals," says Masha Vorontsova, director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Russia.
AT last, following Vladimir Putin's condemnation of a "bloody industry", the Russian ecology ministry has announced legislation protecting
harp seal pups less than a year old.
An adult
harp seal is about two meters, or six has many centimeters, or several inches of blubber, and weighs up to 180 kilograms, or 500 pounds.
But researchers fear much worse is to come.The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), which is financing the research, cites the example of the
Harp seal, which like the Beluga migrates between the White Sea and the Barents Sea.Global warming and increased ship traffic in the White Sea have together robbed the
Harp seal of the ice sheets where pups are born, causing a collapse in its population from 300,000 in 2003 to just over 100,000 this year, IFAW said.While the Belugas are less dependent on ice, they are very sensitive to any pollution that the oil industry brings, said researcher Vera Krasnova."In the Saint Lawrence River in Canada, pollution has been catastrophic for the Belugas," she said.
LACKING the cuddly charm of the baby
harp seal or the human-like traits of the gorilla, "Save the shark" is not exactly a slogan which is guaranteed to stir emotion.
Also highlighted was the fact that the killing of
harp seal pups (whitecoats) has been banned in Canada since 1987, under penalty of severe fines, despite the fact that images of them continue to be used in publicity material produced by animal rights associations.