Suikkalan lava

Suikkala dance pavilion

Ronnie the Ringed Seal, one of the rarest seals in the world, was born in late winter in the waters of Saarisalo in Ruokolahti, Finland. In the summer, music echoed along the water from the nearby dance pavilion. Ronnie heard songs and laughter when people were having fun in the Suikkala pavilion. On summer weekends at sunset, thousands of people – those strange creatures with two feet – would come and dance in the pavilion. Sometimes the noise from the pavilion was so loud that it was better to swim further away, but sometimes there was beautiful, more peaceful music that was friendlier to the little ears of a ringed seal. People are funny: sometimes calm and fascinating, but sometimes noisy and unpredictable.Mother had always warned Ronnie about people: “Stay away from people’s fishing nets, no matter how tempting the vendace you think you can catch there. There is enough room for us all here on Lake Saimaa, but it’s no coincidence that your great uncle Nestori became the symbol of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation. People catch the same fish as we do and pollute the environment, but they can also help our family survive. We were tallied at our latest family reunion, and there are around 440 ringed seals, so there is room for at least twice as many of us.”I assured my mother that I would be careful and left our home shores. I wanted to go on an adventure like my great uncle Nestori and see what the great big Saimaa had to offer.