Ice Seal Tracking Maps Archive
02/32/2021 – 02/59/2021
From 1 to 28 February 2021, we received locations for 2 ringed and 3 spotted seals. The two ringed seals (arrows) were distributed between the southern Chukchi Sea and St. Lawrence Island in the northern Bering Sea. All three spotted seals (circles) were located in the Bering Sea, generally near the ice edge. As of 28 February, all three spotted seals were within 50 miles of each other, near Navarin Canyon along the Bering Sea shelf break.
These seals were tagged during the summer and fall of 2019. As expected, the primary tags we epoxied to their backs have since fallen off during the annual molt this spring. The locations we are currently receiving are from the SPOT tags we attached to their flippers. Because SPOT tags are attached to their flippers we only receive locations when the seal has hauled out of the water, either on sea ice or land. Sea ice data are courtesy of the U.S. National Ice Center, dated 28 February 2021 (https://usicecenter.gov/Products/ArcticData).
These seals were tagged during the summer and fall of 2019. As expected, the primary tags we epoxied to their backs have since fallen off during the annual molt this spring. The locations we are currently receiving are from the SPOT tags we attached to their flippers. Because SPOT tags are attached to their flippers we only receive locations when the seal has hauled out of the water, either on sea ice or land. Sea ice data are courtesy of the U.S. National Ice Center, dated 28 February 2021 (https://usicecenter.gov/Products/ArcticData).