A review of the developmental, behavioural and physiological adaptations of the ringed seal, Phoca hispida, to life in the Arctic winter

Abstract

Ringed seals are one of only two seal species in the world adapted to life in the land-fast sea ice. The habitat is characterized by a stable ice platform in early winter and lies at latitudes subject to extreme low temperatures. The small body size of adults and semi-altricial pups are an unusual adaptation to cold, allowing ringed seals to use shelters that they construct in the snow overlying their breathing holes. These small subnivean structures act to hide adults and pups from predators. Pups that have been wetted become hypothermic and require shelter to regain thermoneutrality. Since female seals actively swim away with their pups from attacks on their birth lairs by foxes and bears, both the physical and the thermal protection of alternate subnivean lairs are important for the survival of the neonate. -from Authors