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How do Baikal seals make breathing holes in winter ice?

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A crabeater seal (Lobodon carcinophagus) lies on snow-covered ice with its mouth open, surrounded by broken sea ice in East Antarctica. — seal Crabeater seal (*Lobodon carcinophagus*).

During the winter months, Baikal seals (Pusa sibirica) create breathing holes in the ice by using their claws to cut through it. These openings allow the seals to access the water for feeding excursions while the lake surface is frozen.12