This animal, which looks like an ordinary seal, quickly crawls through the snow. Suddenly it stops and begins to inflate its head. It pulls a red pouch out of its nose and shakes its head violently. It's unbelievable behavior, like watching a monster from a movie. In fact, this behavior is courtship behavior that appears only in males. The red nose pouch of a hooded seal can grow up to twice the size of a soccer ball.

This mysterious animal is called a hooded seal. It is characterized by its entire body covered in mottled fur that looks like clothes worn by humans. The hooded seal is designated as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The population is currently estimated at around 340,000, which is not a small number compared to other endangered species, but it is classified as vulnerable (VU), meaning it is likely to face a high risk of extinction in the next few months or years.

The hooded seal, which lives around Greenland, Canada, Norway, etc., is facing extinction due to illegal hunting. The problem of illegal hunting of hooded seals began in the 1970s. Because of its appearance, which resembles winter clothes, hooded seals were often hunted by people seeking fur. In particular, hooded seal pups under a year old are born with bluish-gray fur, and because of this external characteristic, they were called "bluebacks." People indiscriminately hunted hooded seal pups to make coats from their fur. Eventually, the MMPA (Marine Mammal Protection Act) began protecting hooded seals in 1972, but illegal hunting continued. The European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor to the EU, banned the import of bluebacks in 1983, and Canada banned the commercial hunting of hooded seals in 1987.

These various efforts have allowed hooded seals to maintain their population, but despite various restrictions, hooded seals are still classified as endangered. Hooded seals, which eat squid, octopus, and shrimp, have also been requested to be slaughtered by fishermen because they are considered a hindrance to fishing. Hooded seals are already being caught and killed in fishing nets.

Many comments were posted on YouTube videos of hooded seals inflating their nose pouches. Most of the reactions were "interesting" and "funny." As much as people are interested in hooded seal nose pouches, I hope they will also pay attention to the issue of illegal hunting of various animals, including hooded seals.