The annual count of endangered Saimaa tire nests has begun. The purpose of the counter is to give an estimate of how many ringed seals were born during the winter.
More than 100 people, many of them volunteers from the Saimaa region, will take part in the process, which will last a few weeks.
The Saimaa Baltic ringed seals are believed to live in a total of about 420 in Saimaa. Endangered species rely on thick snow cover to build nests to protect their puppies born in February.
Experts from Metsähallitus’ National Forest and Wool Office estimate that this winter’s snowy condition means that the population of seals can grow by up to 20 individuals.
Last winter, in mild conditions, Lake Saimaa had the weakest snow and ice for more than 40 years. Volunteers shovel snow to produce man-made spills to nest seals, but at least nine puppies are known to have died.
Saimaa seals are regularly killed by drowning when they are entangled in the fishing nets in the lake.
Earlier this month, conservationists hit a ban on fishing in the lake, which they don’t think goes far enough to protect the species.
"We build snow spirits [for nesting] and will make artificial densities in the future to the extent we can. But it is a waste of society’s resources that young seals die every summer in the nets of amateur fishermen after being treated in artificial snowboats all spring," A researcher at the University of Eastern Finland said Mervi Kunnasrantaleading the seal research team.
Female Saimaa seals and their puppies are in the nest until spring melting, when the puppies are weaned.
Source: The Nordic Page