Saimaa Ringed Seal - Animal of the Week

This week we're looking at one of the most endangered seal in the world, only found in a single lake in Finland.
Join our Discord server: / discord
Subscribe to our subreddit: / bengthomas
Music by T. Robertson
Subscribe to explore the wonderful life around you!
Social Media:
►Twitter: / bengthomas42
►Facebook: / bengthomas42
►Instagram: bit.ly/1PIEagv
►Google+: bit.ly/1ObHejE
Sources:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saimaa_...
wwf.fi/en/saimaaringedseal/
www.nationalparks.fi/saimaa-r...
phys.org/news/2018-04-marine-...
www.independent.co.uk/news/sc...

[@Joakim1400]

In Finland we have a famous sad song called "Vanhojapoikia viiksekkäitä", which translates to "Moustached Bachelors". The song's lyrics tell the sad life stories of Nestori Miikkulainen, an old bachelor living on a rocky island in Lake Saimaa, and a lonely seal who lives in the waters near Nestori's cabin and comes to visit him when the old man plays his harmonica. The song's central themes are the depopulation of rural Finland, and nature preservation: the two protagonists are both said to be members of an endangered species.

[@draw2death421]

Lyrics: Finnish Saimaan saaressa pikkuinen torppa, Istuu portailla Nestori Miikkulainen. Huuliharppuaan soittaa, ja norppa Nousee pinnalle pärskähtäen. Aallon alla se suunnisti soittajan luo, Sille tuttua tutumpi on sävel tuo. Laulu kertoo näin mitä on yksin kun jää, Hyvin hylje sen ymmärtää. Tanssittu koskaan ei Nestorin häitä, Maailma houkutti pois morsion. Vanhojapoikia viiksekkäitä Mies sekä hylje kumpikin on. Saimaan saaressa pikkuinen torppa, Sinne elämän toveri tahtonut ei. Yksin Nestori jäi kuten norppa, Myös sen kumppanin kohtalo vei. Suuri Saimaa mut sata on hylkeitä vaan, Kohta jäljellä ei ehkä ainuttakaan. Huuliharppua soittelee Miikkulainen, Yksi ymmärtää kaipuun sen. Tanssittu koskaan ei Nestorin häitä, Maailma houkutti pois morsion. Vanhoja poikia viiksekkäitä Mies sekä hylje kumpikin on. Saimaan saaressa pikkuinen torppa, Istuu portailla Nestori Miikkulainen. Lepokivellään iäkäs norppa Katsoo ystävää ymmärtäen. Suuri Saimaa mut naista sen rannoilta vaan Ei näin tuuliseen saareen saa asettumaan. Kuten norpan, on määrä myös Miikkulaisen Olla sukunsa viimeinen. Tanssittu koskaan ei Nestorin häitä, Maailma houkutti pois morsion. Vanhojapoikia viiksekkäitä Mies sekä hylje kumpikin on. Lyrics: English On a Saimaa's island is a little hut, On the stairs sits Nestori Miikkulainen. He plays his harmonica and a seal Rises to the surface with a splash. Under a wave it found its way to the player, For it this melody is known by heart. The songs tells what it's like to be left alone, The seal understands it well Nestori's weddings were never celebrated, The world attracted away the bride. Old moustachy fellows Man and the seal both are. On a Saimaa's island is a little hut, There a life companion didn't want to stay. Nestori was left alone like the seal Also its companions destiny took Great saimaa but just a hundred of seals there are Soon there might not be even one at all The harmonica is played by Miikkulainen One understands that longing in it. Nestori's weddings were never celebrated, The world attracted away the bride. Old moustachy fellows Man and the seal both are. On a Saimaa's island is a little hut, On the stairs sits Nestori Miikkulainen. And on a stone sits the elderly seal Looking at his friend with a understanding. Great Saimaa but none of it's women Are willing to stay on this windy island. Like seal's, is the destiny of Miikulainen to be the last of his kin. Nestori's weddings were never celebrated, The world attracted away the bride. Old moustachy fellows Man and the seal both are.

[@sporasparel5032]

This seal is not often mentioned outside of Finland so thank you for covering it!

[@LordOfNihil]

its a new one for me. i knew about ringed seals, but not finish lake dwelling ringed seals.

[@hailgiratinathetruegod7564]

Everything out of Finland is great

[@Tapanitseini]

Thank you :) but I wouldn't say Finland is any candyland

[@asmodai2025]

Finnish metal is great as well.

[@cassu6]

@@Tapanitseini Yep only candyland in Finland is Karkkila ;)

[@panchoxxlocoxx9638]

Seals are probably the cutest animal that ever existed

[@panchoxxlocoxx9638]

@The Creature Universe So many opinions and only one truth...

[@gregburrell6244]

They get nasty when they get older

[@elwaspa6137]

This is wisdom in it’s purest form

[@elwaspa6137]

The Creature Universe 🤣 is the most annoying thing I’ve ever seen

[@graygreysangui]

@The Creature Universe A water weasel? I will take the sea dog.

[@flioink]

Finnish water doggos are cute.

[@invisiblejaguar1]

Seals are amazing, I love how their ancestors came from the land and evidence of that is clear even when you look at them today. It wasn't too long ago I found out that seals actually have claws on the ends of their flippers, I was amazed.

[@m4ssee]

This summer I finally saw one of these seals after 25 years of spending summers in the lake Saimaa and not more than less than a mile away from our summer cottage. :D

[@ShadySheev]

We Germans call seals Seehunde, which would literary translate to sea dogs in english. Just a fun fact in the light of of all the sea doggo comments :-)

[@draw2death421]

In Finland ringed seals are called: norppa but we Call seals: hylje

[@Tapanitseini]

@@draw2death421 And the tiny one is called Kuutti :)

[@hnnnnnnnnnng]

South slavs call sharks "sea-dogs" 😅

[@ShadySheev]

@@hnnnnnnnnnng That seems... strange.

[@tothewestside]

Thank you for making this video. I'm writing an essay about them for my degree and I am finding them the most interesting and charismatic animal. We are so fortunate so much work is being put into saving this animal. Freshwater pinnipeds are few and far between, and mad respect to Finland for saving this one

[@IWillHarvestYourToes]

A seal is a water doggo. Bless!

[@BasedForever0]

It is not. And it is written: dog.

[@AAAAAA-qs1bv]

@@BasedForever0 you do not deserve to live with the water doggos.

[@asmodai2025]

@@BasedForever0 You do not understand what jokes are, do you?

[@ThePsihopatul]

Again got to love foreigners who know their stuff. Love this video. I was taught in school that "saimaan norppa" has no English translation.

[@_robustus_]

I thought Lake Baikal had the only fresh water seals. Peoples always be lyin to me! Damn you David Attenborough! Where’s my gun?

[@jika327]

(Finnish) Wikipedia claims that Baikal seal is the only seal species living exclusively in fresh water where as Saimaa ringed seal and Ladoga seal are subspecies of ringed seal. Some other subspecies of ringed seal live in seas from from arctic and baltic to pacific.

[@Renjii1991]

they all derive from ringseals

[@finnicpatriot6399]

@@jika327 Ladoga belongs to Finland too.

[@toveriemppuz1252]

​@@finnicpatriot6399 Ei se kyllä vaan oo pitkään aikaan kuulunu Suomelle.

[@jokuvaan5175]

Yay. My suggestion was made into a video. ^_^

[@BasedForever0]

They are definitely Finnish btw: they descended from ringed seals that were isolated from the rest when the land arose after the last ice age and around the same time Finno-Ugric peoples came first to that land. Both are Europe's first.

[@finnicpatriot6399]

Nah. Finno-Ugrics came much later than Kalevi Wiik's crackpot stone age theories suggest.

[@legendre007]

Such beautiful and darling animals. 😊

[@mickeyamf]

That cover photo 😍😍😍 he a fuzzmuffin

[@haapamies]

You can follow these seals live on online nature webcams! Certain individuals become national celebrities every summer (#team Pullervo). Also due to the warming climate, hundreds of locals come together every year to pile snow on the beaches and dig nesting dens for them. I'm proud of the change in mentality, from culled to national pets.

[@Taradoxxi]

hell yeah I love these cuties, very underappreciated species

[@UnapologeticallyEboni]

Never heard of this seal... Thanks for posting

[@nibbelius7179]

Too bad they are dying cause there isn't enough snow in winter any more

[@fang609]

Beautiful creatures.

[@elhombredeoro955]

Hey Ben, I again request you to make a video on completely different animals who are termed buffaloes and explain the difference between them.

[@kaimaan844]

Suomi mainittu. Torilla tavataan!

[@sakkeko3106]

Ookko pelannu Morrowindia?

[@nibbelius7179]

@@sakkeko3106 nice

[@sakkeko3106]

Platypus Plays ?

[@elliottotbc]

Hi Ben. I went to the IOW on Monday to Whitecliff Bay (right around the corner from Yaverland) not many fossils there other than a couple of shark teeth, gastropods and bivalves. When the tide goes out, there is are lignite beds which preserve the roots from ancient swamp trees. Interestingly the further East you go, there’s beds which are representative of freshwater sediments, these hold freshwater snails but not much else.

[@silkworm6861]

Thanks for the video! The much bigger Lagoda and Baikal lakes also have resident seal populations.

[@Whocares.........]

Thanks again Ben! Well Done.

[@Tanygopteryx251]

I would suggest videos on the larger lakes of the world, like Baikal, Victoria, and the Great Lakes. They’re all interesting places.

[@jeffreyschweitzer8289]

Norman Atherton Baikal also has its own seals called nerpa

[@jimmyshrimbe9361]

I love this channel! I’ve learned so much! Plus The cryptozoology stuff is amazing!! I keep up with C.M. Koseman now and I have a copy of the Cryptozoologicon! Now I just need After Man and all the rest you mentioned and I’ll be good!

[@GiffysChannel]

I just love these videos!

[@Wezqu]

Just thought to post this here. There is now one Saimaa Ringed Seal living in Korkeasaari Zoo in Helsinki Finland. So its now possible to anyone to see this dangered species easilly and if so want donate money for the reservation of this beautiful blob of flesh. To anyeone who thinks that it was captured from the wild it was not. It was rescued as a cub after getting injured most likely of some fishermans net. It was the first Saimaa Ringed Seal to survive after been found like that but he was not allowed to join his brethren back to Saimaa lake as he might have brought potentially dangerous new sickneses to the closed habitat. Korkeasaari got special permit to keep the seal there to educate and help the protection of its brethren for the future generations to enjoy.

[@1978cnk]

Keep up the incredible mindstorm the extensions of your ego produces. I love it...

[@frida3578]

Too much cuteness 😍

[@danstiver9135]

Good lake doggos.

[@davidm587]

Gorgeous seals . Hope their numbers increase !

[@saunasimpanssi]

I'm from Finland and i love Saimaa ringed seals

[@fast1nakus]

it's always astonishing how small some animal populations are and so fragile

[@kaijudust9255]

Love the colors

[@hazmat9279]

Do they also use those long eyebrows for sensing?

[@Thaif010]

I found this channel through the speculative zoology videos, which were fascinating and very useful for creating believable fictional creatures, big thanks for making those videos since I would not have found that topic on my own; the words "speculative zoology" sounds too pseudo-scientific for me since it immediately makes me think of cryptozoology. I happen to live at the southern part of lake Saimaa, which is the 4th largest lake in Europe by the way, and believe it or not people still have a contentious relationship and views on the Norppa as we call them. Mostly the conflict revolves around fishing; Fishers don't like the norppa "stealing" fish from their nets, since this tends to also rip the nets. They also often get tangled in these nets doing the "stealing" or just on accident and frequently drown. My own father is worried and irate that they(the county) might ban net fishing in Saimaa. There's already limitations on when one can use nets, particularly when the pups, or Kuutti in Finnish, are born. This would not stop fishing since there'd still be line-fishing, and fish trapping but it likely would lessen the amount of catch and affect their livelihood and threaten a traditional way of life. It never ceases to amaze me how shortsighted and ignorant people can be about animals and wildlife. Still, I have trust that as the generations change the situation improves for both the Norppa and the people of Saimaa when people find and develop better, effective and just means to conserve nature. Oh and Saimaa is a great place for a summer vacation. You can benefit from "everymans right" or Jokamiehen Oikeus, which means that one can freely use natures bounty, provided they do not egregiously disrupt, pollute or otherwise act disruptively in said activity. Foraging, fishing and camping is totally A-OK as long as you don't break any rules or laws and observe any possible Forest Fire Warnings. Tulkaa ihmeessä käymää!

[@Silkendrum]

Given how beautiful their coat is, I'm surprised there are any left.

[@lightsaber230]

Decompression sickness is usually caused by consumption of air at deeper depths then not discharging the nitrogen absorbed, this is done through slowly going shallower, if you go straight to the surface you are at a much higher risk of it happening. (Currently doing my advanced open water course and we have to learn about this stuff

[@thatfellashak6143]

So squishy

[@trashcraftretired189]

A episode on the Remora fish would be pretty cool

[@diamondobsidian4256]

I have researched about this seal. It is amazing. I hope it can come out of its endangerment

[@joonaskosonen95]

You might not know but there is a saimaa seal live stream that is uphold by wwf going on atm. It can be found at wwf suomi youtube or google norppalive

[@joegaynor438]

veryi nteresting , I always wondered about this seal

[@themarblers4399]

OMG THE LAKE DOGGOS!!!

[@Shaden0040]

I wounder how they got secluded to one lake in the past. Possibly they were trapped by a glacial dam locking them into a giant fresh water glacial dam lake away from the sea. When the dam broke eventually, the lake lowered trapping the seals in the remaining lake after they had adapted to the fresh water conditions and fish to eat.

[@Wezqu]

The land in northern europe is rising little by little every year. During the iceage the ice caused so much pressure on the ground it caused a "dent" to the ground. After the ice melted that dent is straigtening up but very slowly. Lake Saimaa once was part of the sea but as the ground raised slowly it caused it to be cut off from the baltic sea. It of course was salty still but slowly it turned to be pure water lake as the salt was slowly drained back to the sea. Thats why the seals managed to adapt as it took a long time to the lake to become fully fresh water lake so they had generations to adapt. This is also what happened to the Ladoga Seal that lives in the lake Ladoga on the Russian side of the border not that far from Saimaa.

[@raullimon4210]

For the next animal of the week can you do the red wolf?

[@aidenisbill5697]

to people who have lives they are called whiskers lol best part

[@hensorsa4016]

Kuka suomesta

[@user-qr2yr4ni4x]

Damn and I thought Mediterranean monk seals where endangered.

[@jameshenry3530]

There are only two species of fresh-water seals, as far as I know. The Saimaa and a species that lives in Lake Baikal.

[@DiamondBones007]

nice vid! I thought we also had some ringed seals in Canada, oh well, I'll keep looking to see any clarification on that. I found it really interesting how they don't eat the salmon that live in the same water as them, preferring the smaller fish, and they're suffering from mercury contamination... It makes me wonder if the reason why they avoid the salmon is because larger fish store more mercury in them? Also confusing because... if the seals are suffering from mercury poisoning... then I'd imagine the salmon as well, making them unhealthy to fish... wouldn't that be concerning since they were so worried about their fish?

[@LadyhawksLairDotCom]

Obviously, I could Google it, but...how did people first learn about decompression sickness? Who was the first person to get it? How long did it take us to figure out exactly what was going on?

[@tseuren123]

Probably known for hundreds/ thousends of years, some cultures dive in the sea for food for very long. But too the scientific world i dont know

[@LadyhawksLairDotCom]

@@tseuren123 Like I said, a quick Google would tell me, but I'm lazy today. I just Googled it, anyway. Freediving won't cause decompression illness except in extreme circumstances, so I'm pretty sure it was a rarity or perhaps even nonexistent until the invention of scuba gear. If any ancient people dived to extreme depths (unlikely) and died of decompression sickness, it would have been chalked up to drowning, most likely, so I'd gamble there are no historical records of decompression illness before scuba equipment. Today most people stick to shallow dives (what ancient people would have done). That won't cause the bends. blue-addiction.com/en/dcs-in-free-diving/

[@maitrejuju9583]

Very Cute chonky seal

[@GreggRulzok]

Why am i whatching this at 1 am...

[@OmegaWolf747]

Aw. They're sweet.

[@Retsuiga]

Never liked a video so quick.

[@1lobster]

may be the finns could train the seals to catch fish in nets? simaler to how the Chinese use specially trained diving birds?

[@brasssentry2091]

I'm Finnish and you make me speechless. Why the hell would we train seals to catch fish

[@1lobster]

brass sentry in order to make their success our success. the more seals we breed, the more fish we catch.

[@miskakopperoinen8408]

@#1 lobster That's not a good idea, for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the visibility in Finnish lakes is poor due to shallow depth and significant infall of organic matter. This makes spotting a net underwater extremely difficult for the seals. Training them to approach the netted areas would drastically drive up the numbers of seals drowning due to getting dangled up in a net. Secondarily, the Chinese fishing industry is mainly centered on oceanic shelf and blue waters. Neither of those exist in the shallow Saimaa. One of the consequences is that Saimaa is unsuitable for large scale trawling and quite often the nets are static, not moving, which makes using animals as aid more difficult. The third point is perhaps as important as the first: Finland is not a poor, rural country with limited infrastructure anymore. Saimaa is already being fished at the sustainability threshold and any further increase by any means would mean a collapse in the fish populations. This would not only be a catastrophe for the local fish industry and Finnish cuisine as a whole, but also for the seal, as its primary and pretty much only source of food would be gone. The fourth is that seals are active predators. At the time their numbers are so small that their share of the fish is practically meaningless, but were they to return to a healthy population, they would actually need enough fish to compete with the industry. Remember, we're talking about a lake that freezes over in the winter.

[@1lobster]

Miska Kopperoinen forgive me for believing capitalist problems require capitalist salutation.

[@miskakopperoinen8408]

If you take nothing else away from my comment, just take this: Saimaa is a lake that is already being fished so heavily that some studies question whether the fish stocks are already receding. Increasing the catches would be a certain death for the seal as they and their pups would starve. There is a capitalist solution though. Inland, fresh-water seals in a natural habitat are exceedingly rare. They're reasonably friendly and curious, they're not dangerous at all. They live in picturesque environments that are fairly warm and sunny during late summer. If you just thought of tourism, we're on the same track. Just as a friendly tip, you might want to use the word 'solution' Capitalist greetings are hardly useful for solving many problems.

[@backstreetfan2887]

seals are so cute

[@josephfrye8750]

If they go extinct, we can replicate it like Jurassic Park.

[@egemenozcelik7494]

Thats not how it works...

[@quasiBooter]

@@egemenozcelik7494 yes it is

[@egemenozcelik7494]

@@quasiBooter do you have any idea on biology ?

[@fabianchan7]

Hi. Perhaps u can do a video on the Sumatran Rhinos. Lately, the rhinos of Borneo are confirmed extinct.

[@soundonly7155]

YEEEAAAAAH SEEEAAAAAAAL

[@tinycrimester]

ringed goodboys :3

[@The_PokeSaurus]

Could you do the Sail Water Crocodile next?

[@The_PokeSaurus]

@Yokomation Studios Salt, Water.

[@CharlieApples]

It must be so weird for animals when we build them houses. Like, it must make no sense to them why we’d spend so much time building a den and then not live in it.

[@oliverwilson11]

It's very sad that they became so endangered :( but good that they are recovering How do they get through the ice to hunt during winter?

[@jokuvaan5175]

They have sharp claws which the use to scratch/dig through the ice. They can use same holes through the winter. Just go through them often enough so they don't have time to entirely freeze

[@HiTechKeema]

1:54 "They also have vibrissae, known to normal people who have lives as whiskers."

[@dumoulin11]

Actually he's correct to call them vibrissae.

[@HiTechKeema]

@@dumoulin11 I'm aware. I wasn't doubting the veracity of that.

[@danger6371]

The seal in the thumbnail looks angry at something

[@pietaricollander672]

SUOMI MAINITTU TORILLA TAVATAAN

[@harrisonwang2504]

Lake seals lake seals

[@Tanygopteryx251]

1:55 have I just been kicked out of the nerd club?

[@coolmugfanx37-019ise]

im happy to be finnish

[@faronomus1589]

The True Leopard Seal

[@umartdagnir]

How to they survive when the lake freezes over? They still need to go to the surface to breath, right?

[@Wezqu]

There is always weak spots in any ice and they do keep holes open if it gets that cold that it freezes too fast. They can hold their breath a long time and they remember where the holes are.

[@Game...007]

So, do they stay on the islands in winter?

[@jokuvaan5175]

No. They have sharp claws which they use to dig holes in the ice during the winter so they can breathe and get out of the water if they need to.

[@SCR_ProductionsYT]

COMMON REDSTART PLSSSS!!!

[@naturebrothers1844]

Fresh water seals

[@scottc346]

it's done?

[@warriorslegends1920]

Your sound should be a little louder

[@prestonjones1653]

Damned Finns, hogging all the cute stuff.

[@SilverGamingFI]

Come and get it, we'll never give up our seals!

[@chrisrus1965]

Good but why not show the cladistics? You of all people should be more interested in showing how this species stemmed from which branch on the seal family tree as far as we can tell at this point and how they connect to the larger branches on the tree of life. You of all people should know to do this in each video because your videos always end with and you carry as an icon with you everywhere the symbol of the Tree of Life. This would make me think you would be old more interested and always including the cladistics of each animal in a visual way so the viewer can see how it connects home to the other branches of the Tree of Life.

[@oliverwilson11]

It's a seal. It's related to other seals. Seals are pinnipeds. Pinnipeds are most closely related to musteloids

[@chrisrus1965]

@@oliverwilson11 Graphically.

[@nikkibaugher542]

You are confusing nitrogen narcosis with "the bends"

[@melvinshine9841]

I'm sorry, but the person at 4:25 looks like he/she is dead and someone just dumped the body there.

[@elwaspa6137]

3:20 so basically the harp, ringed, musk, and elephant seal are almost wiped off the face of this Earth by humans. After humans blame seals for eating all the fish but it turns out the humans just want to watch sea puppers get hooked in the skull. IM LOOKING AT YOU CANADA.

[@madderhat5852]

I was really enjoying this video and then it just Fin-ished. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.....um, cause they're Finnish. From Finland. I'll leave now.............

[@SeafoamBoi]

Lamest joke in existence. Just like telling a turkish person if they like eating turkey or asking hungariam if theyre hungry. T: a finn

[@78deathface]

Chubby

[@dogslivesmatterdanielstanc214]

Those pictures a song came to me A SONG CALLED I'M TO SEXY FROM...IT WAS MADE IN THE 1990 I THINK

[@nicosmind3]

Worlds cutest seal. Plus it looks tasty.

[@sarcasticdemon7669]

Don't fucking eat them. 😡

[@Clone394]

This video is Finnish.

[@bof8850]

Clubbing time!

[@skzion2]

I like your videos despite their regular reference to "climate change," which is code for "man-made climate change." The methodology for determining "climate change" is extremely primitive. I mean, hockey sticks? Linear regression for a phenomenon that involves cycles within cycles? One thing is clear, though, extinction is part of evolution. It's neither good nor bad.