On 18 March 2012, skier Juha Salo was out on the snowy ice of Finland's western coast when a small, pale seal pup shuffled up and started following him across the snow. His short film of the encounter, shared on YouTube, shows how close a wild pup can come.
Juha Salo's seal pup encounter
Finland's western shore faces the Gulf of Bothnia, the northern arm of the Baltic Sea. In the video the young seal approaches him, moves along beside his skis and pauses close by, much like a curious puppy. Salo's own description called it a lost pup, and he returned the next day to find it again, this time with two other young seals. He also thought it looked less hungry than before.
The clip was shared under the title of a ringed seal pup, the species that breeds on the Baltic ice in late winter. The date fits: ringed seal pups are born on the ice in March and April.
Ringed seals of the Baltic Sea
Ringed seals are the smallest seals of the Arctic and sub-Arctic seas. Adults average about 1.5 metres in length and usually weigh around 50 to 70 kg. The Baltic population, classed as the subspecies Pusa hispida botnica, lives mainly in the Bothnian Bay, with smaller groups in the Gulf of Finland, the Gulf of Riga and the Archipelago Sea. In 2013 the Baltic environmental commission HELCOM classified it as vulnerable.
Finland is also home to one of the rarest seals on Earth, the Saimaa ringed seal, which lives only in Lake Saimaa in the east of the country. About 500 of them survived as of late 2024.
Why snow and ice matter for seal pups
Ringed seals depend on winter ice more than almost any other seal. Pregnant females dig lairs in the snow and ice, and the pups are born there in March or April after a nine-month pregnancy. For about two months the mother nurses the pup while it builds up a thick layer of blubber.
Good snow cover keeps the lairs intact, and good ice keeps them stable. Studies have found that years with little snow and early ice break-up force pups into the water too soon and lower their survival. Climate change, which shortens the ice season, is considered the most serious long-term threat to the species. Researchers project that as Baltic ice declines, the Bothnian Bay may become the only part of the Baltic where ringed seals can still breed.
What to do if you meet a seal pup on the ice
Give a pup on the ice plenty of space: enjoy the moment from a few metres away, keep dogs on a lead, and leave the pup where it is. If it seems injured or truly in trouble, call the local wildlife authorities and let them decide.
Compare this encounter with the reported assistance in Peter Oswald’s sheep-rescue photographs. For a domestic family scene, watch a golden retriever and her puppies exploring snow.
Related reading
- Paul Nicklen and the Leopard Seal: The Story Behind the Penguin Offerings
- Mary Marshall’s Elephant Seal Pup Encounter in Antarctica
- Charlie and the Seal: An Antarctic Camera Encounter
Sources
- Video: Juha Salo's seal pup video on YouTube (channel: Juha Salo)
- Wikipedia: Ringed seal
- Photo credit: Juha Salo.
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