Ross seal (UPDATED)
The Ross seal is one of four marine carnivores that breed in sea-ice habitats around Antarctica. Ross seals are not often seen because they breed and moult in difficult to reach areas of heavily congested pack ice and then apparently spend the rest of their lives in the open ocean. Consequently, the...
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Antarctic Environments Portal
2019
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| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.18124/6ypd-4b05 https://www.environments.aq/information-summaries/ross-seal-updated/ |
| Summary: | The Ross seal is one of four marine carnivores that breed in sea-ice habitats around Antarctica. Ross seals are not often seen because they breed and moult in difficult to reach areas of heavily congested pack ice and then apparently spend the rest of their lives in the open ocean. Consequently, their biology and ecology are poorly known and they have been presumed to be rare. The original reason for declaring the Ross seal a Specially Protected Species was principally because there were too few data to make any judgement about their abundance . The few surveys by icebreaker and aircraft estimated abundance ranging from 20,000 to 220,000. The genetically effective population size of Ross seals in the Antarctic was estimated at around 130,400 from analyses of mitochondrial DNA and about 254,000 from analyses of nuclear DNA microsatellites. Genetic data suggest that the species has been increasing over geological time and there is no evidence for any recent decline in abundance. The species has not been commercially hunted, and very few have been collected for scientific studies. : Ross Seal Population status Ommatophoca rossii |
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