The Baikal Seal is the smallest of the true seals, and with the exception of a subpopulation of inland harbour seals living in the Hudson Bay region of Quebec, Canada ( lac de loups marins harbour seals ), the Baikal seal, the Saimaa ringed seal ( Pusa hispida saimensis ), and the Ladoga seal ( Pusa hispida ladogensis ) are the only exclusively freshwater pinniped species.

The Baikal seal, the Saimaa ringed seal ( Pusa hispida saimensis ), and the Ladoga seal ( Pusa hispida ladogensis ) are the only exclusively freshwater seals.

* Pusa hispida saimensis ( Saimaa ringed seal ).

* Saimaa ringed seal

At some 450 – 510 ( fewer than 600 ) remaining individuals, it is believed to be the world's second-rarest pinniped ( second only to the Saimaa ringed seal ), and one of the most endangered mammals in the world.

Observation and counting of protected species, e. g. Saimaa ringed seal, in such conditions has been conducted using a powered paraglider.

# REDIRECT Saimaa ringed seal

# REDIRECT Saimaa ringed seal

# REDIRECT Saimaa ringed seal

The Saimaa ringed seal ( Pusa hispida saimensis ) is a subspecies of ringed seal ( Pusa hispida ).

An adult Saimaa ringed seal is between in length and weighs between ; males usually being larger than females.

The Saimaa ringed seal is darker in color than other ringed seals.

Saimaa ringed seals become mature between the ages of 3 and 7.

Saimaa ringed seal featured at the Finnish 5 Finnish markka | markka coin.

The Saimaa ringed seal has been protected since 1955.

In order to protect the Saimaa ringed seal, there are voluntary fisheries restrictions in a part of their living areas.

The Saimaa ringed seal lives nowadays mainly in two Finnish national parks, Kolovesi and Linnansaari.

The largest is Lake Saimaa, which, with a surface area of more than, is the fifth largest lake in Europe.

Savonlinna (, ) is a town and a municipality of () inhabitants in the southeast of Finland, in the heart of the Saimaa lake region.

One well-known example is the rock paintings of Astuvansalmi in the Saimaa area of Finland.

Saimaa Canal ( opened in 1856 ) is an important link connecting inland waterways of Finland with the Gulf of Finland.

Lappeenranta () is a city and municipality that resides on the shore of the lake Saimaa in South-Eastern Finland, about from the Russian border.

During the summer, when Lake Saimaa and Saimaa Canal are accessible by water, there is a connection by ship from Lappeenranta to Vyborg, Russia.

Lappeenranta is known as a summer city, mostly due to its closeness to the Lake Saimaa.

Lives only in Lake Saimaa in Finland and is one of the most threatened seals in the world with total population around 250 individuals.

Saimaa is a lake in southeastern Finland.

In places in the Saimaa basin ( an area larger than the lake ), " there is more shoreline here per unit of area than anywhere else in the world, the total length being nearly.

Also, the Saimaa salmon is another endangered species in the same habitat.

In the west there is the shimmering Lake Saimaa and in the east there are hundreds of smaller lakes.

The centre of Mikkeli is located on a low rise, set back about from the shore of a bay of Lake Saimaa.

The lake is the fifth largest in Europe after Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega in Russia north of St. Petersburg, Lake Vänern in Sweden, and Lake Saimaa in Finland.

The bay is connected by the Saimaa Canal to the lake Saimaa in Finland.

The descent between Lake Saimaa and Lake Ladoga is 69 meters.

On the other side of Lake Ladoga, River Svir is usually thought of as the traditional southern border of Karelian territory, as Lake Saimaa marks the Western border while Lake Onega and the White Sea mark the Eastern border.

The university campus is situated on the shore of lake Saimaa, about 7 kilometres away from the city center.

For example, the Lake Saimaa area is a labyrinth of lakes of varying sizes, islands, straits and rivers, making the area very easy to defend.

This part, as the original post-Winter War defence line, was also referred with the name " Luumäki-Suomenlahti-linja " ( Luumäki-Gulf of Finland line ) or simply as " Luumäen linja " ( Lake Saimaa is situated north of Luumäki ).

Joutseno is located by the beautiful lake Saimaa surrounded by idyllic Karelian woods.

Image: Mikkeli, _Finland, _view_from_Savilahti. jpg | View to downtown Mikkeli over a bay of Lake Saimaa

The Swedish-Russian border was delineated from the outstream of the Systerbäck river into the Gulf of Finland, over lakes Saimaa, Inari, the settlement of Neiden and up to the Murman Sea.

In the course of the last 50 years, this amorphous group of settlements has grown into a modern industrial town dominated by Lake Saimaa, the Vuoksi River and the border.