The uniquely patterned ribbon seal, long the most elusive and least understood of the true seals, is breathtakingly beautiful with its slender body, huge black eyes, and striking bands of white fur. It also has a special affinity for the ice, using the edge of the sea ice in Alaskan and Russian seas for rearing pups, molting, and resting. But as global warming accelerates, so does the alteration of the species’ sea-ice habitat. Without sufficient ice, this pretty pinniped will be more than elusive: It could be lost forever.
To ensure the ribbon seal’s perseverance, the Center for Biological Diversity, submitted a petition to the National Marine Fisheries Service in December 2007 requesting federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. Responding to their petition a few months later, the Fisheries Service announced that it would review the status of the ribbon seal, as well as that of three other ice-dependent seals. Unfortunately, in December 2008 the agency denied the ribbon seal protection, ignoring scientists’ disturbing predictions about the dramatic, near-future decline of its sea-ice habitat in the Bering and Okhotsk seas — so in spring 2009, The Center filed a notice of intent to sue.
Though ribbon seals have always been threatened by many human activities, including shipping, oil and gas development, and even hunting, global warming is likely to prove the worst threat of all. If greenhouse gas emissions continue as usual, scientists say that sea ice in the seal’s range could decline 40 percent by mid-century, leading to widespread pup mortality. Ribbon Seals can live to be 30 years old.
"The Arctic is in crisis state from global warming," said Shaye Wolf, a biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity.
"An entire ecosystem is rapidly melting away and the ribbon seal is poised to become the first victim of our failure to address global warming," he said.
But Wolf says that this winter the sea-ice habitat is rapidly disappearing. "If current ice-loss trends due to global warming continue, the ribbon seal faces likely extinction by the end of the century," he says.
The ribbon seal's winter sea ice habitat is projected to decline 40 percent by mid-century under recent greenhouse gas emissions trends, Wolf says.
In Wolf's view there is still reason to hope for their survival.
"With rapid action to reduce carbon dioxide, methane and black carbon emissions, combined with a moratorium on new oil and gas development and shipping routes in the Arctic, we can still save the ribbon seal, the polar bear, and the Arctic ecosystem," he said. "But the window of opportunity to act is closing rapidly."
He points out that warming in the Arctic now is occurring at a pace so rapid that is exceeding the predictions of the most advanced climate models.
"Summer sea-ice extent in 2007 plummeted to a record minimum which most climate models forecast would not be reached until 2050," Wolf observed. "Winter sea ice declined to a minimum in 2007 that most climate models forecast would not be reached until 2070."
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