Ribbon Seal: Histriophoca fasciata

Abstract

The ribbon seal is a somewhat unusual, and not well-studied, pinniped is closely related to other northern seals, but stands within its own genus, Histriophoca. Pups are born with white lanugo while older seals have a striking pattern of a dark background with a set of light bands encircling the head, the posterior trunk, and each front flipper. They occur only in the northern North Pacific Ocean and adjacent Arctic seas. Pupping, breeding, and molting occur in ice front regions of the Okhotsk and the Bering Seas during March-May. During the remaining months they are pelagic, ranging widely, and essentially never coming ashore. During spring they feed on various fishes, shrimps, and squids—their diet at other times is unknown. In the past, they were hunted commercially by the Soviet Union, but currently they are taken only occasionally by Alaska Natives. Otherwise they interact with humans very infrequently.