Curious ribbons

Researchers aboard the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy spotted these two ribbon seals — a mother and her fat pup — during an April 2009 cruise to study how climate change is affecting the delicately balanced ecosystem in the Bering Sea. Ribbon seals are often seen closer to Russia, which is on the western edge of the Bering Sea. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)