It’s quite rare to see incredibly gorgeous sea creatures pay a visit to the shore. It’s even rarer to see one of the most striking and most popular sea hermits show their faces to the public. This magnificent creature is none other than the ribbon seal, which cannot be spotted easily. If you see him, you’d definitely think that he put lots of effort to dress up for this occasion. In August 2016, a ribbon seal who’s an animal that’s famous for being very reclusive decided to grace the shore. He was spotted Long Beach Peninsula in Washington state. Since such appearances are extremely rare, marine scientists did the best they could to photograph him before he disappeared into the ocean again.
The population of ribbon seals in the North Pacific Ocean is around 400,000. This shows that these creatures aren’t necessarily rare. In fact, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, ribbon seals are categorized as a species of least concern. This shows that fortunately, ribbon seals are nowhere near extinction. However, the last sighting of a ribbon seal before this one was in 2012. That day, an adult seal named B310 randomly appeared on a Seattle woman’s dock.
Ribbon seals are usually spotted in the waters off Alaska and Russia. There are four distinct stripes on their body which gives them a truly unique appearance. Their extremely solitary behavioral patterns are indeed mysterious. In fact, they’re the only seals with an internal air sac, which continues to baffle scientists to this day. However, in the near future, we might see ribbons seals struggle to survive. This is because the Arctic sea ice, which is vital for their reproduction, is steadily depleting. So, if you’re interested in these magnificent creatures, check out the pics below and share your thoughts with us in the comments.
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