Arctic animals found in PNW and elsewhere. Is there a connection?

I posted this on page 3 of the Rare sea creature found on Seattle dock thread. That thread told the story of a Ribbon Seal found in Puget Sound near the mouth of the Duwamish, a very polluted water-way.
I was thinking how far south this seal has traveled, and it reminded me of an article I read this month about Snowy Owls found in the area. Snowy Owls are also from the arctic, and this year they are showing up as far south as Oregon
Here is one link to a local article about the Snowy Owls. Tacoma News tribune Dec. 29 2011 article
Using a Google news search, I found additional articles on owls spotted in the midwest.

I'm not saying arctic creatures moving south is become an epidemic, but with the spotting of the seal and the owl, I wonder why they are here.

I don't think they are here because of the wintry weather we are having. The owl showed up before the snow/ice storm.

Is it possible that the climate is changing up north? Either getting too cold or too warm and they can't find their normal food or stay comfortable?

According to Wikipedia, the ribbon seal lives year round in the arctic. They have only been found south two other times, and both times they were healthy. I don't know about the health of the recent seal. I do know that the animal was found in a very polluted area. Wiki ribbon seal

Wikipedia says the snowy owls have been found south before, but most of their lives are spent in the arctic. Wikipedia Snowy Owl

I'm wondering if they are fleeing some sort of change, such as radiation contamination, pollution, or something geological.

Do these animals use magnetic field to get around, and now they are getting confused? If the magnetic field is changing, like its been speculated, it could affect them. I'm assuming they do, but I've yet to find any confirmation. they use magnetic field to get around.

Of course, having two rare arctic animals show up in the PNW, isn't something to cause too much alarm. We may have got lucky this year.
What do you think?

Probably just two occurances of very random animal migration gone wrong, ie they have gone off course. If it was a mass migration, as in thousands of owls/seals moving south from the Arctic then i might batter an eyelid but on or two creatures ranging a little further than they are used to is not strange, it it just reported sometimes these days so it reaches us a bit more as a posed to say a hundred years ago when we would have not have even cared!

Yeah, as a local of the PNW it was odd/unnerving to see an arctic animal here. I remember reading about a Snowy-Owl appearance on the West Seattle Blog.
link: westseattleblog.com...

I say magnetic pole shift....Just really hope that's not true because it could mean that the PNW is turning into the Arctic?.....

reply to post by ThorsBrother


Perhaps you're right.
But there has been more than one owl sighting in the past month. I suppose we have to wait and see if more arctic creatures show up.

I am curious if these animals use the magnetic field. I'm still looking for an answer.

snowy owls made an appearance in southern indiana recently also, very out of place.

reply to post by MahtukYonder


I hope this area doesn't turn into the arctic. I moved here four years ago and I love the climate.
A couple other threads were talking about the jet stream changing. I'm not sure if the change would affect us.
I remember reading that animals tend to migrate where their food migrates. Maybe I can find out if their food has migrated.

I just found a better Snowy Owl article. I must have missed it. It's dated Dec. 26, 2011. Seattle Times: Overwintering Snowy Owls

The article talks about how Snowy Owls have been showing up across the country and that their are two theories as to why they are here .

There are two schools of thought as to why the owls are here: a shortage of food, typically lemmings, up north. Or a bumper crop of young owls this year, pushing some of the young south as they temporarily disperse to new territory.

I can't tell you anything about the seal, but after an extensive web search Snowy Owls eat Canadian Geese.

I also found numerous refernces to Global warming and how it is changing where animals in the Arctic and Antarctic live. The best one for Arctic is: www.climatechangenorth.ca...

For Antarctic is: environment.nationalgeographic.com...

I don't know if this has anything at all to do with why the PNW has two Arctic animals, but it is as good a guess as any.

Good thread, we need to be paying attention to this and asking questions.

reply to post by Iamschist


Wow! Canadian Geese!
Below is what they eat. Taken from Owling.com

Food and Feeding: Since the Snowy Owl is distributed in the north around the world its diet is determined by the availability of food in the region it resides. On its breeding grounds in the far north lemming and voles are its major food source. Other prey is also common in its wintering grounds and as is available in the region. This list of foods taken includes small rodents such as mice, rats, moles, hares, and various other mammals including rabbits. Various birds are also common which include pheasants, grouse, quail, dove, domestic poultry, alcids (like dovekie), and various water foul often including ducks, grebes and even medium sized geese. The Snowy can locate prey strictly audibly and may plunge in the snow for visibly hidden rodents like lemmings. It usually hunts from an elevated position that can vary from a raised knoll to a treetop or telephone pole along the edge of a field. It often makes long low flights to capture prey on the ground or birds from the water's surface or pursues them in the air. It can hover and pounce on prey from the air or while on the ground. The Snowy is even said to catch fish, amphibians, and crustaceans.

These owls can eat a variety of creatures. I'm not buying the current theory that their food supply is running low unless all the rodents are freezing, fleeing, or sick.

reply to post by collietta


Yes Canadian Geese, here is a link about Canadian Geese: www.kidzone.ws...

Natural enemies include the Arctic fox, gulls, Bald Eagles, Peregrine Falcons, Snowy Owls, and Prairie Falcons.

Here is another link about Snowy Owls: www.squidoo.com...

Snowy owls typically feed on lemmings, mice and rats, though it has been documented that they will prey on black ducks, Canadian Geese, short eared owls, American Kestrels, Starlings, Great Blue Herons, and even other Snowy Owls!

I was just trying to help your thread with my post.

Another ribbon seal has been spotted. This time north of Seattle, in Marysville.

Tacoma News Tribune

The article doesn't have any new information as to why the creature is here.
I've never lived near Marysville, but I've driven through a handful of times. I'm not sure if the waterway is polluted as the Duwamish, but I did notice there was a stench, possibly from the mills.

The snowy owl migration south is now an official phenomena.

Yahoo has it running on their main page.

news.yahoo.com...

The owls, and now the ribbon seal(s) showing up so far south......my guess is a combo. Magnetic pole shifting or drifting, weather/ temp change, the animals always know first.

We should keep this thread alive with all new sightings of similarity.