We use cookies to improve your experience, some are essential for the operation of this site.

A lone Ringed Seal looking up from the ice.

A lone Ringed Seal looking up from the ice.
A lone Ringed Seal looking up from the ice.
A lone Ringed Seal looking up from the ice.
A lone Ringed Seal looking up from the ice.
Comments (0)
348336
Linder, Christopher L.
A lone Ringed Seal looking up from the ice.
Still Image
05/07/2009
graphics/PD5_dailys/cl_20090507215548.jpg
Most seals seem alarmed when the ship appears-this 420-foot metal monster intruding into their realm-and they galumph across the ice and dive into the water when we appear. But tonight, this ringed seal just watched us go by. Ringed seals are the main food for polar bears. We never did see a polar bear on this trip, but we knew it was unlikely-they're more common farther north, in the Arctic Ocean.
Image of The Day caption:
Ringed seals, like the one pictured here, are the smallest and most common seals found in the Arctic. Their diets consist mainly of shrimp, krill and other small crustaceans and they are the main food for polar bears. Learn more about the Arctic ecosystem on Polar Discovery, a project to document science in action from pole to pole during the 2007-2009 International Polar Year. This image was taken on the 2009 Bering Sea Ecosystem Expedition, which focused on sea ice and how climate change will affect the region's delicately balanced ecosystem.
Photo by Chris Linder
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Labels
This item includes these files
Image
Image
Collections