Ribbon Seal

The ribbon seal is named for the bold pale bands that encircle the neck, foreflippers and lower back of adult males against an almost black coat. Females and younger animals are paler and less sharply marked. Adults are medium-sized true seals, generally about 1.5–1.7m long and 70–95kg, with relatively large, widely spaced front flippers (NOAA Fisheries species account). The streamlined body narrows toward the hind flippers.

This seal inhabits the North Pacific and adjacent southern Arctic, especially the Bering and Okhotsk seas. It uses broken seasonal ice for pupping, nursing and moulting, then becomes more pelagic after the ice retreats. Ribbon seals eat fish, squid and crustaceans and are usually solitary. Their movements track the formation and breakup of suitable sea ice (NOAA Fisheries species account).