A couple months ago I posted about Craspedacusta sowerbii, which is really unique as it's the only jellyfish found in freshwater! Yep, a jellyfish found in lakes :)
Well, today I learnt about the Baikal seal which is unique in a similar way.. It's the only exclusively freshwater seal!
Also know as Lake Baikal seal or nerpa the species is endemic to Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia. Pusa sibirica is the scientific name.
As the common name suggests, the species is found in the waters of the lake skyhigh occasionally individuals will ponder in nearby connecting rivers.
Baikal seals are amongst the smallest seals, with adults reaching a length of about 1.2-1.4 meters in length and a weight of 50-90 kg.
As expected, their diet consists of stuff they can find in the lake. They mostly survive on golomyanka, a type of cottoid oilfish found exclusively in Lake Baikal. Occasionally, they will also eat sculpins and small invertebrates.
Today there are about are 80,000 to 100,000 individuals in the lake which is pretty much the max number the lake can support. Most of the weird animals I post about are threatened or near threatened so this is nice for a change. Yes, there are some dangers like pollution going on but nothing major so far.
How the species got isolated on Baikal lake is still a mystery, although there are a few theories like individuals migrating from the Arctic Ocean. All we know for sure is that they are permanent inhabitants of the lake for at least two million years now!
They great thing about being isolated and thousands of miles away from the oceanic waters is that they pretty much have no enemies. This small cute seal is literally one of the apex predators of the lake 😂
Ok, this is the super quick run down of the species. Wikipedia has a great entry on them if you would like to read more.
I'll close now with a video from natgeo if you would like to see them in action.
Enjoy:
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