Come on in! The water is fine! Seals will keep several holes like this open in the sea ice. The seals need to come up for air from 4 to 10 times an hour. Sometimes they will use the holes to look around to see what is on the ice above them. Polar bears may hunt for seals by waiting near the breathing hole. Inuit hunters can stand motionless over a seal's breathing hole for hours in hope of harpooning the animal. Seals are an important food source for inuit across the arctic.