Records concentrate on the North Slope, with more reports farther south around Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve and Prince William Sound. Bearded seals stick to drifting pack ice over the shallow continental shelf, shifting with the ice edge rather than holding to one stretch of coastline.
This is the largest true seal in Alaska’s ice pack, and it hunts by touch rather than sight, sweeping its long, pale whiskers across the seafloor to feel out clams, crabs, and worms buried in the mud. In spring, males sing a warbling, descending trill underwater that can carry for miles, a display that marks the start of the breeding season and lets researchers pick out individual callers by the shape of their song.
Records spike sharply in May and June, right when pups are born directly on the ice and the underwater singing display is in full swing. That reflects longer daylight and easier access to the ice edge, not a true seasonal surge in how many seals are actually there.
Full species profile
