Discovering Lake Baikal's unique freshwater seals

Lake Baikal in central Asia - the oldest and deepest lake on earth and home to a surprising creature, the Baikal seal. No one knows how it got here, thousands of kilometers from the nearest ocean. Maybe there once was a passage linking the lake with the ocean, or maybe it swam up the River Yenisei which flows out of the lake. One thing is certain, it’s the only true freshwater seal in the world and lives nowhere else.

There are around 60,000 seals on Lake Baikal and the small rocky islands are much in demand for sunbathing. The waters of the lake are cold even in summer, rarely getting above eight degrees centigrade. So the seals often spend many hours basking in the sun. And there is always a queue for the sun lounge.

Baikal seals are proficient divers, staying underwater for up to 30 minutes at a time. And they need to be. Lake Baikal is over a mile deep, more like an ocean than a lake. For a long time, Baikal seals were targeted by commercial hunters. Today, the main threat facing them comes from industrial and agricultural pollution entering the lake. Protecting their habitat will not only safeguard the future of the seals, but also preserve the biggest freshwater lake on our planet.