It's no secret that seals are all kinds of adorable. With their roly-poly bodies and their big, soft eyes, they just melt our hearts. They're like the puppies of the sea!
And when they come in for a cuddle, it's hard to say no.
When most of us imagine a seal, though, we probably don't think of striking black-and-white designs. But the ribbon seal is about the change all that.
These seals, which make their home in the North Pacific waters between Alaska and Russia, are notable for the bold, swirling white stripes marking its black fur.
The ribbon seals are elusive, though, and almost never come to land, and live so far out in the open water that we actually don't know much about their habits, because they're simply too far away.
In fact, many people have never even seen a ribbon seal before, and the last known sighting of one was back in 2o12.
And they're not endangered at all. The seals are just really good at staying far away from us, which might be why they're not endangered.
But one of these seals made an appearance in August, appearing on Long Beach Peninsula in Washington State, which is very far south for these seals.
The seal appeared to be in good condition, maybe just a little lost, and it soon blobbed off back into the water — but not before it let people get a photo!
Learn more about these beautiful, mysterious seals below.
[H/T: The Dodo]
In August, an elusive ribbon seal appeared at Long Beach Peninsula in Washington State.
These seals aren't endangered, but they live so far out in the ocean that seeing one is very rare.
The last known sighting of a ribbon seal was back in 2012, when a ribbon seal surprised a Seattle woman by hopping up on her dock and taking a nap.
After that, ribbon seals stuck to the frigid Arctic waters they call home.
Ribbon seals are easy to identify by their striking black and white markings. Most have a ring of white around their neck and tail, and two circular patterns on their flanks.
Normally, they stick to the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk between Alaska and Russia, and very rarely come to land.
In fact, they come to land so rarely that we have very few photos of them, and still don't understand all their secrets.
Ribbon seals, for example, have an internal air sac in their throats, which no other seal has. We're still not really sure why they have it!
While most seals have their babies on the shore, ribbon seals give birth out on the floating chunks of ice in the sea.
The babies don't have the distinctive markings that the adults do. Like other baby seals, they have soft white fur that camouflages them against the snow and ice.
These mysterious seals remind us that there's still so much we don't know about our very own planet!
Ribbon seals are doing well, but scientists are concerned that climate change and melting ice may bring problems for them in the future.
If you ever happen upon a seal on land, leave it alone! It's probably just checking things out.
However, if it appears injured, call animal control or the NOAA so they can help out.
And if the ribbon seal is a new creature to you, SHARE it with someone else so they can appreciate it, too!
