The Bearded Seal (The Square Flipper Seal) Erignathus barbatus Erxleben, 1777

Bearded Seal. Photograph by Eugene Mamaev

The body length of adult animals is up to 2,5 m, the weight is up to 360 kg. Males are slightly smaller than females. Cubs are born 1,3 m long and weigh up to 33 kg.

The bearded seal has circumpolar distribution and clearly sticks to the border of pack ice. With the change of ice border in summer animals follow it north.

The area of the bearded seal.

The ration of the bearded seal consists of bottom-lying species of invertebrates (marine worms, crustaceans, cephalopods) and fish (capelin, камбала, saffron cod and others). They can dive to a depth of 200 m for food and hold their breath up to 25 min.

The breeding of the bearded seal takes place on the ice from March to May. A curious feature of the bearded seal in contrast to other species of the northern pinnipeds is underwater vocalization. Their underwater songs can last up to 1 min and can be heard deep in the water and even in the air.

The total number of species is up to 500 ths individuals.

The first mention of the bearded seal dates back to 1935 thanks to Barabash-Nikiforov I.I.

On the Commander Islands bearded seals are observed only occasionally (generally in winter) and only single individuals. One of the latest recordings of the species took place in 2013.