Question 1

True or false: Ribbon seals are named for the distinctive ribbon-like stripes on their adult fur.

Accepted Answer

True. Correct. Adults have white bands encircling the neck, flippers, and tail, resembling ribbons on a dark background.

Question 2

True or false: Ribbon seals have a special membrane over their eyes for seeing underwater without goggles.

Accepted Answer

False. False. They have a nictitating membrane (third eyelid) for protection, but not for underwater vision enhancement.

Question 3

True or false: Newborn ribbon seal pups have a pure white coat, which they shed after a few weeks.

Accepted Answer

True. True. Pups are born with lanugo (white fur) for camouflage on ice, molting to a silver-gray coat within a month.

Question 4

True or false: Ribbon seals can inflate their entire body like a pufferfish to scare predators.

Accepted Answer

False. They cannot inflate; that’s a myth. Ribbon seals rely on camouflage and swimming away, not body inflation, for defense.

Question 5

True or false: Ribbon seals spend most of the year alone on pack ice, far from other seals.

Accepted Answer

True. True. They are solitary, rarely seen in groups, and prefer drifting ice in the Bering and Okhotsk Seas.

Question 6

True or false: Ribbon seals are the only seal species that can rotate their hind flippers forward for walking on land.

Accepted Answer

False. False. True seals (phocids) cannot rotate hind flippers forward; sea lions (otariids) can. Ribbon seals are true seals.

Question 7

True or false: Ribbon seals are named for the distinctive ribbon-like white bands on their fur.

Accepted Answer

True. They have four white bands on their dark coat: one around each front flipper, one around the neck, and one around the lower back, creating a ribbon pattern that inspired their name.

Question 8

True or false: A ribbon seal’s stripes become more distinct as it ages, with the ribbon pattern fully developing by age four.

Accepted Answer

True. True. Ribbon seal pups are born white, molt to silver-gray, then gradually develop the distinctive light bands around the neck, flippers, and lower back, reaching full expression by about age 4.

Ribbon Seal Trivia Questions