WWF in the Arctic: Barents Sea
The Barents Sea Ecoregion is home to a large variety of whales and seals. As many as 12 species of large cetaceans, five species of dolphins and seven pinniped species can be seen in the Ecoregion.
Most of the whales are long-distance migrants, and only three species - beluga, narwhal and the rare bowhead whale - are permanent residents of the high Arctic.
Harp seals are the most abundant marine mammals in the Ecoregion with an estimated population of two million individuals. They feed in the open ocean, and in spring huge numbers gather on the sea ice at the entrance to the White Sea to give birth. Walrus, ringed seal and bearded seal colonies are found around the northern archipelagos, while gray seals and harbor seals are commonly found along more southern coasts.
The walrus population totals around 2500 animals and has been on the increase since it was protected in 1954.
The present number of polar bears in the ecoregion is estimated at 3000-5000. Important denning areas are spread over Svalbard, Franz Josef Land and Novaja Zemlya with very high den densities on Hopen and Kong Karls Land. The Barents Sea Ecoregion is the only place in the world where the polar bear is protected in its entire natural habitat.
The current status of most of the marine mammal species in the region is unknown. Today, the minke whale is the only whale species hunted in the ecoregion, and then only in limited numbers.Did you know...
Whaling in the Barents Sea in the 18th and 19th centuries dramatically reduced the population of bowheads. Even though the population has been protected since the 1930s there are probably less than 100 individuals left in the Barents Sea, and it is feared that the population will never recover.
