Seals are found in most of the coastal and cold waters of the world, but the majority of them are found in the Arctic and Antarctic waters. Harbor, ringed, ribbon, spotted, and bearded seals, as well as northern fur seals and Steller sea lions live exclusively in the Arctic region.

These ice seals, as they are collectively known, rely on ice for their survival, but rapid ice loss in the Arctic due to climate change causes seal pups to be prematurely separated from their mothers during their milking period. Rapid ice loss and the inability to build dens for protection leads to high pup mortality.