Use of artificial subice air pockets by wild ringed seals ( Phoca hispida )

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Author: Milne, Allen R.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1974
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Lancaster Sound; Phoca hispida; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z74-146; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z74-146

Ringed seals were observed to inhale exhaust air expelled by SCUBA divers who were diving under 1.9-m thick, 1-year-old fast ice in Lancaster Sound during mid-April, 1973, The underside of the sea ice was imperfectly flat so that some of the bubbles of exhaust air coalesced into large lenticular bub...