More than a thousand largue cubs were born in southern Primorye

According to experts, the recent breeding season brought 1,239 small seals, some of them have already begun adult life in protected waters. Individuals of different ages were able to shoot on a professional camera. Larga, or spotted seal, is the only species of marine mammals that breed in the Far Eastern Marine Reserve. Every winter, hundreds of individuals from all over the Far East gather in protected waters to leave offspring. Reproduction takes place on the banks of the Rimsky-Korsakov archipelago and lasts approximately until the turn of March and April. According to new data, the current breeding season has already given birth to 1,239 pups. Now these are cubs of different ages: from newborns to already switched to an independent lifestyle. The female gives birth to one puppy, feeds it for three to four weeks and releases it into adulthood, after which it is ready to mate again. That is, from the beginning of the “birth” period, some seals have already managed not only to be born, but also to mature. 

The Rimsky-Korsakov Archipelago in the Far Eastern Marine Reserve becomes a reference breeding place for the larga. There is almost completely no man, nature is untouched, food is enough. Long-term monitoring shows that the dynamics of the larga birth rate in the reserve retains positive indicators, said Igor Katin, an employee of the NSCMB FEB RAS.

The female feeds the baby with fatty milk, so the baby is able to gain 2-2.5 kg of weight every day. If the squirrel weighs about 8 kg at birth, then by the end of feeding - it already weighs more than 40 kg. By this point, he has almost completely descended the squirrel down, so that the young seal becomes really spotty. The Far Eastern Marine Biosphere State Nature Reserve is managed by the Land of the Leopard FSBI. It was created in 1978 to preserve the unique biodiversity of the flora and fauna of Peter the Great Bay. The water area is protected by state inspectors, scientists study numerous species of animals.

Materials, photos and videos prepared and provided by the national park