Seals

Hawaiian monk seal Kaiwi and her pup lie face-to-face in the sand on Kaimana Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii, on April 20.

Newborn Monk Seal Pup and Mother Get 24/7 Police Protection

Wildlife officials closed down a popular Hawaiian beach to protect the pair of endangered mammals

Sleeping northern elephant seals on the beach at Año Nuevo State Park, California.

Elephant Seals Take Extreme Power Naps in the Open Ocean

While foraging on deep dives, the marine mammals sleep for about two hours per day in short, ten-minute bursts

A monk seal in southern Greece. Females tended to give birth on beaches before human hostility drove them into hiding.

Planet Positive

The Mediterranean Monk Seal Is Making a Comeback

The endangered sea creature, known for its reclusive nature, has re-emerged out of the shadows

Polar bears are back in Churchill, Manitoba.

Polar Bears Are Gathering in Canada—and You Can Watch Them Live

Bears return to Churchill, Manitoba, every autumn to await the formation of sea ice on the Hudson Bay

Seals in Bar Harbor, Maine

Seal Strandings in Maine Linked to Bird Flu

Four stranded pinnipeds tested positive for the avian influenza H5N1

Researchers say photo recognition could help scientists learn more about how seals move around.

Introducing Facial Recognition Software for Seals

A neural network, trained using thousands of photos of harbor seals, offers a noninvasive way of telling the pinnipeds apart

New research shows how seals use their whiskers to aid them as they hunt. 

Seals Use Their Whiskers to Help Hunt in the Deep Ocean

New video footage shows rhythmic whisker movements that have never been observed before in seals in the wild

Chilean devil rays swim in the Atlantic Ocean near the Azores. 

What Are Scientists Learning About the Deepest Diving Creatures in the Ocean?

Animals-turned-oceanographers are helping biologists find out what they do when they get to the cold, dark depths

Peconic, a 3-month-old gray seal, makes his way back to the ocean.

Good News

Baby Seal Found in a Traffic Circle on Long Island Released Back Into the Ocean

The three-month-old gray seal had wandered through streets and parking lots until it was captured by a local nonprofit, rehabilitated and released

Antarctic pearlwort (pictured) , grew and spread five times faster between 2009 and 2018 than growth rates observed between 1960 and 2009  

Warming Temperatures Are Turning Antarctica Green

Native flowering plant species grew faster and more densely in the last decade than in the previous 50 years combined

This tracing shows the shape of the carving, which is only visible under certain weather conditions.

Cool Finds

Is This 10,000-Year-Old Carving Europe's Oldest Known Depiction of a Boat?

New analysis suggests that rock art found in Norway portrays a sealskin vessel used by Stone Age Scandinavians

The juvenile walrus spent two days resting in Pembrokeshire, Wales before returning to sea.

How Did This Walrus Get to Wales?

The same walrus might have stopped briefly in Denmark and Ireland

The researchers found that 3D tracking tags picked up circling movements in various animals including, king penguins, tiger sharks, whale sharks and a Cuvier's beaked whale.

Researchers Are Investigating Why Marine Animals Swim in Perplexing Circles

Sea creatures may exhibit the spiraling behavior to navigate the ocean, for mating rituals, or to track prey

Marine mammals could contract the virus through their mucus membranes, like their blowholes, eyes and mouths.

Can Marine Mammals Catch Covid-19 via Wastewater? The Evidence Is Murky

Whales, and other species, may have the same cellular vulnerability to Covid-19 as humans, but experts say the risk of infection is incredibly low

A satellite image shows the A68a iceberg in the lower left. The chunk of ice looks a bit like a pointed finger, and scientists say it's currently on a path to collide with the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia.

Delaware-Sized Iceberg Could Decimate Wildlife on South Atlantic Island

Iceberg A68a is on track to hit the British Territory of South Georgia, where it could complicate access to food for millions of seals and seabirds

Southern elephant seals normally live in the South Atlantic, often as far south as Antarctica. These are young male Southern elephant seals from the South Shetland and Anvers islands, Antarctica.

Smithsonian Voices

What a 1,000-Year-Old Seal Skull Can Tell Us About Climate Change

In a new study, scientists explain how a seal native to the South Atlantic, but found in Indiana, likely swam to the middle of North America

Viruses, notably influenza A and Morbillivirus, cause mass die-offs with striking head counts.

Mass Die-Offs of Marine Mammals Are on the Rise

Viral and bacteria outbreaks are increasingly causing fatalities in a variety of species, including seals and dolphins

Steller sea lions sitting on rocks on the shore of Campbell River in British Columbia, Canada.

Headless Sea Lions Are Washing Up in British Columbia

Biologists and local beachgoers who have encountered the decapitated marine mammals suggest humans may be to blame

Greg Lecoeur won the title of Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020 for his Frozen Mobile Home, a playful snapshot of seals circling an iceberg.

Dazzling Display of Seals Wins Underwater Photographer of the Year Award

French photographer Greg Lecoeur triumphed over more than 5,500 submissions from hundreds of artists around the world

Fur seal pups on Bogoslof Island.

On an Active Volcano, a Northern Fur Seal Population Is Booming

Scientists estimate that there were 36,000 pups on Bogoslof Island this year—up from around 28,000 in 2015

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