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The Saimaa ringed seal
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Volunteers count lairs
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Fifty to sixty seal pups are born on Lake Saimaa every year. Many people who live along the shore or have holiday cabins there volunteer each spring to help the national Forest and Park Service, searching many parts of the lake counting lairs where seal pups have been born.
This produces valuable information on the breeding success, population trends and life of the Saimaa ringed seal in general.
One of the volunteers is Matti Heikkinen. He returns to his old hometown of Savonlinna every spring to take part in the lair count. Heikkinen and his cousin Pertti Kinnunen, who still lives by Lake Saimaa, have both been active
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There are certain precautions to be taken by anyone intending to venture on to lake ice. One spring, While Matti Heikkinen was out counting lairs, an icebreaker crossed the lake behind him, opening a channel through the ice and cutting off his return route. Luckily, he had foreseen that this might happen and brought a boat with him. He placed his skis and rucksack in the boat and rowed back over the open water.
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