This is the extremely rare Ribbon Seal, a unique seal with four beautiful stripes that has captured the hearts and imaginations of thousands of people.
Another one of these unique seals was recently spotted on the shore of a beach in Washington.
The ribbon seal is hardly ever seen by humans because it spends the majority of life far out at sea, in the icy arctic and subarctic waters between Northwest America and Russia, especially near the Bering Strait.
This seal hardly ever spends time on land.
The ribbon seal is instantly recognizable for its signature four white markings: a strip around the neck, one around the tail and a circular marking on each body side which enclose the front fins.
The species was hunted for years for its fur, which caused a heavy reduction in population numbers. However, a Soviet Union ban on seal hunting in 1969 helped curb hunting threats, as well as research continued by the United States government in 2008 to monitor populations. This research concluded that there was insufficient evidence that the ribbon seal belongs on the endangered species list.
However, many have continued to argue that these seals belong on the endangered species list.
Citing a lack of sufficient information of population size, this seal was not put on the endangered species list but instead was placed on the list of species of concern, which can be found here.
Watch a video of a ribbon seal below:
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