Hooded Seal (Cystophora cristata) skin prepared, West Greenland
The hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) is a large phocid found only in the central and western North Atlantic ranging from Svalbard in the east to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the west. Hooded seals are one of the marine mammal species hunted by Greenlanders. The trade of seal skins became a political affair. After the EU banned the import of seal products, Canada to opposed the European Union's request to join the Arctic Council as observer.
Year: 2013
From album: West-Greenland
Photographer: Peter Prokosch