Summer Habitat of the Bearded Seal (Erignathus barbatus) in the Western Part of the Sea of Okhotsk

Bearded Seal is a typical, widespread and numerous inhabitant of the Sea of Okhotsk. The western coastal waters of the Sea of Okhotsk is one of the main areas of its summer habitat. The bays of the Shantar Area, where bearded seal is concentrated in the summer, as shown by early researches, were not affected by the scientific studies after the end of the hunting. The proposed work summarizes a series of route surveys carried out in the summer in the area of the Shantar Archipelago. The results obtained show that bearded seals are, in general, rare in the bays adjacent to the Shantar Islands at the beginning of summer. Later, their numbers increase. By the end of July – beginning of August, the animals are already widespread in the bays and in the straits between the islands. From the second half of August, animals begin to gather on shallows and in shallow areas of bays, forming aggregations. Bearded seal forms the most numerous concentrations in the Gulf of Constantine. In the outer parts of the bays and in the straits between the islands during this period, animals are almost not found.

Beardrd seal, Sea of Okhotsk, Shantar Islands, Ulbansky Bay, Konstantin Bay