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Ribbon seals will not get on endangered list
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by Amy Judd | December 24, 2008 at 11:10 am
223 views | 9 Recommendations | 2 comments
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Ribbon seals do not need to be added to the endangered species list, according to the US government. However, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has petitioned to have the seal added, due to the melting of sea ice where they live.
Their main habitat is ice in the Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, Sea of Japan, Chukchi Sea, and the Beaufort Sea in the northern Pacific and Arcitc.
"Our scientists have reviewed climate models that project that annual ice, which is critical for ribbon seal reproduction, molting and resting, will continue to form each winter in the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk where the majority of ribbon seals are located," Jim Balsiger, NOAA's acting assistant administrator for fisheries, said in a statement.
The agency said it is difficult to determine the exact number ribbon seals. It did estimate, however, that there are at least 200,000 in the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (2)
at 11:30 on December 24th, 2008
Ribbon seals need protection as the tourist-ships' traffic increases due to the shrinking ice. I hope NOAA wins.
at 11:47 on December 24th, 2008