The freshwater seals are
seal
Seal may refer to any of the following:
Common uses
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...
s which live in
freshwater
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...
bodies.
The only exclusively freshwater seal species is the
Baikal seal
The Baikal seal, Lake Baikal seal or (''Pusa sibirica''), is a species of earless seal endemic to Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia. Like the Caspian seal, it is related to the Arctic ringed seal. The Baikal seal is one of the smallest true seals a ...
, locally named ().
The others are the subspecies or colonies of regular
saltwater
Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish water, ...
seals. These include two subspecies of
ringed seal
The ringed seal (''Pusa hispida'') is an earless seal inhabiting the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. The ringed seal is a relatively small seal, rarely greater than 1.5 m in length, with a distinctive patterning of dark spots surrounded by light g ...
: the
Ladoga seal
The Ladoga ringed seal (russian: Ладожская нерпа; ''Pusa hispida ladogensis''), is a freshwater subspecies of the ringed seal (''Pusa hispida'') which are found entirely in Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia. The subspecies evolve ...
and the
Saimaa ringed seal
The Saimaa ringed seal (''Pusa hispida saimensis'', Finnish: ''Saimaannorppa'') is a subspecies of ringed seal (''Pusa hispida''). They are among the most endangered seals in the world, having a total population of only about 400 individuals. The ...
.
Common seal
The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinnipeds, pinniped (walruses ...
s (harbor seals) are known to enter estuaries and freshwater rivers in pursuit of their prey. Colonies of common seals live in some lakes, such as seals of
Iliamna Lake
Iliamna Lake or Lake Iliamna (Yup'ik: ''Nanvarpak''; Dena'ina Athabascan: ''Nila Vena'') is a lake in southwest Alaska, at the north end of the Alaska Peninsula, between Kvichak Bay and Cook Inlet, about west of Seldovia, Alaska. It shares a na ...
,
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
, trapped there a long time ago. There is also a subspecies called the
Ungava seal (''Phoca vitulina mellonae'') that comprises less than 300 individuals landlocked in the fresh water of
Lacs des Loups Marins
Lacs des Loups Marins is a lake in the north of the province of Quebec in Canada. It is located about 150 km east of Hudson Bay and about 20 km northeast of Lac à l'Eau Claire.
The name comes from its population of harbour seals
...
,
Petit Lac de Loups Marins
Petite or petite may refer to:
*Petit (crater), a small, bowl-shaped lunar crater on Mare Spumans
* ''Petit'' (EP), a 1995 EP by Japanese singer-songwriter Ua
* Petit (typography), another name for brevier-size type
*Petit four
* Petit Gâteau
*P ...
, and
Lac Bourdel
Lac is the resinous secretion of a number of species of lac insects, of which the most commonly cultivated is ''Kerria lacca''.
Cultivation begins when a farmer gets a stick that contains eggs ready to hatch and ties it to the tree to be infes ...
in northern
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
.
California sea lion
The California sea lion (''Zalophus californianus'') is a coastal eared seal native to western North America. It is one of six species of sea lions. Its natural habitat ranges from southeast Alaska to central Mexico, including the Gulf of C ...
s can also live in fresh water for periods of time, such as near
Bonneville Dam
Bonneville Lock and Dam consists of several run-of-the-river dam structures that together complete a span of the Columbia River between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington at River Mile 146.1. The dam is located east of Portland, Oregon, ...
, nearly up the
Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...
.
In 2004, a healthy sea lion was found sitting on a road in
Merced County
Merced County ( ), is a county located in the northern San Joaquin Valley section of the Central Valley, in the U.S. state of California.
As of the 2020 census, the population was 281,202. The county seat is Merced. The county is named after ...
, California, almost a hundred miles upstream from the
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.
San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...
and half a mile from the
San Joaquin River
The San Joaquin River (; es, Río San Joaquín) is the longest river of Central California. The long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suis ...
.
References
Pinnipeds
Freshwater animals
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