Bearded Seal

The bearded seal get its name from the long white whiskers on its face. These whiskers are very sensitive and are used to find food on the ocean bottom.
Bearded seals inhabit circumpolar Arctic and sub-Arctic waters that are relatively shallow (primarily less than about 1,600 feet deep) and seasonally ice-covered. In U.S. waters, they are found off the coast of Alaska over the continental shelf in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas. Because bearded seals are closely associated with sea ice, particularly pack ice, their seasonal distribution and movements are linked to seasonal changes in ice conditions. To remain associated with their preferred ice habitat, bearded seals generally move north in late spring and summer as the ice melts and retreats and then south in the fall as sea ice forms. As such, they are sensitive to changes in the environment that affect the annual timing and extent of sea ice formation and breakup.
Bearded seals, like all marine mammals, are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. There are two currently recognized subspecies of the bearded seal: E. b. barbatus, often described as inhabiting the Atlantic sector, and E. b. nauticus, inhabiting the Pacific sector. The geographic distributions of these subspecies are not separated by conspicuous gaps. The Okhotsk and Beringia distinct population segments of the Pacific sector are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Because of their listed status, these distinct population segments are also designated as depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Category:Seals and Sea Lions
Category:Mammals
Category:Marine Mammals
Category:Wildlife