2025 Aerial survey of ice seals field report

In the U.S., four species of ice-associated seals occupy the Arctic and sub-Arctic waters around Alaska: bearded (Erignathus barbatus), ringed (Pusa hispida), ribbon (Histriophoca fasciata), and spotted (Phoca largha) seals. Although all species of ice-associated seals are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and ringed and bearded seals are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the first comprehensive abundance estimates of these species have only recently become available over the past decade. Previous survey efforts focused on one sea basin at a time, with surveys conducted in the Bering Sea in 2012 and 2013, the Chukchi Sea in 2016, and the Beaufort Sea in 2021. In 2025, the Alaska Fisheries Science Center’s Polar Ecosystems Program conducted flights over the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas to survey available sea ice habitat throughout these species’ geographic range in U.S. waters in a single season.