Ringed seal tourism is on the rise in Lake Saimaa

Seal excursions are already organised by more than one entrepreneur. A British couple spotted a seal in the Linnansaari National Park

Saimaa Ringed Seal

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By Juhani Saarinen in Rantasalmi
     
      ”Right there, straight in front of us!” exclaims guide Elina Enho, pointing towards the shore.
      Britons Anna and Mark Hows turn their binoculars towards the direction Enho indicated. Next to the reed bed there is a rock - that is right now lifting its head and looking in our direction.
      It is not easy to distinguish a dark grey ringed seal from the rocks scattered on the shoreline.
      Tourist entrepreneur Jari Heiskanen drives his boat ashore, and the group gets off in order to watch the seal from a distance of 100 metres on the other side of the inlet.
      The British tourists who had bought a seal excursion to the Linnansaari National Park in Southern Savonia are happy.
      ”In Spain it took us four days until we saw the Iberian lynx. This exercise took only one hour”, says Mark Hows.
     
The Saimaa ringed seal (Pusa hispida saimensis) is the best-known creature in the Saimaa region, but few tourists have managed to see it with their own eyes.
      A group of tourist entrepreneurs would like to change all this.
      About five enterprises now organise seal-watching trips to Saimaa. The tours have started to grow in popularity over the past few years.
      ”Interest has been increasing along with the publicity given to the ringed seal and its plight as an endangered species”, says entrepreneur Jukka Laitinen.
      The newest entrepreneur, Tuomo Kokkonen from Savonlinna, started taking groups of tourists to see Saimaa ringed seals this year.
      ”Almost everything else has been seen in this world, but not necessarily the Saimaa ringed seal”, says Kokkonen.
     
Seeing the extremely endangered species cannot be taken for granted on these seal excursions, either.
      The best season extends from when the ice breaks up until early summer, when seals are shedding their fur and enjoying basking on the rocks by the lake for hours on end.
      According to researchers, such seal excursions are not harmful for the seals themselves.
      ”If it is done right, it can be useful. Then people believe that such an animal really exists, even though it is rarely seen”, says conservation biologist Tero Sipilä of Metsähallitus, the state enterprise which administers state-owned forest and water areas.
     
The Hows, whose hobby is mammal spotting, took an interest in Finland first because of bears, but after hearing about a chance to see a Saimaa ringed seal, they got excited right away.
      However, Mark Hows points out a bit stiffly that it was passing difficult to find any information about ringed seal excursions on the Internet.
      ”This is all so new”, Jari Heiskanen explains by way of defence.
      Heiskanen says that his grandfather, who was a fisherman, used to take people to see Saimaa, but in those days, the ringed seal was not regarded as a special animal in any way.
      The previously ostracized "fish thief" is today the symbol of Saimaa, and a creature that can introduce new ways to earn a living to the Saimaa region.
     
     
BACKGROUND: The brown bear is the star of camera safaris
     
      The Saimaa ringed seal may have begun to bring curious tourists to Lake Saimaa, but for the time being, it is still only a modest crowd-puller when compared with the large carnivores.
      The abundant population of large carnivores in the Finnish forests is already exploited particularly in the wilds between Kuusamo and Lieksa.
     
In recent years, a number of enterprises have been set up close to the border, which organise viewing and photography excursions amidst wild animals.
      Wild animals are lured by carcasses to camouflaged booths concealing tourists. The Finnish Tourist Board (MEK) estimated in 2008 that the number of such hides in Eastern Finland was already at least 100.
     
The favourite of the spotting excursions is the bear, but even wolverines, eagles, moose, and the like are lured to make an appearance to please the tourists.
      The excursions have been rapidly growing in popularity.
      According to a MEK report, the number of customers had doubled in two years.
      The proportion of foreigners out of the participants in the excursions was more than half.
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 30.5.2011


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Net fishing ban to come into force next week to protect Saimaa ringed seal (7.4.2011)
  Modest recovery in Saimaa ringed seal population (11.11.2010)
  Saimaa ringed seal extinction likely without massive conservation measures (17.2.2009)
  Saimaa ringed seal count reveals 52 new pups (27.4.2011)

See also:
  Protection of Saimaa ringed seal puts shoreline construction under closer scrutiny

Links:
  Saimaa Ringed Seal (Wikipedia)
  Linnansaari National Park

JUHANI SAARINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
juhani.saarinen@hs.fi