#287 Skin
Today we wandered down to the beach to see this little fella...no, he's not dead, he's moulting. If you want to see more pictures taken of him, check out my primary blog by clicking HERE.
Today we wandered down to the beach to see this little fella...no, he's not dead, he's moulting. If you want to see more pictures taken of him, check out my primary blog by clicking HERE.From a Pacific Marine Mammal Bulletin:
All elephant seals spend one month a year on land to moult; they undergo what is called a "catastrophic moult” in which they shed all of their fur along with the underlying layer of skin. For just over a month, the seal is confined to land and spends most of its time dozing and lazily flipping sand onto itself to stay cool. It doesn’t eat and may lose up to 25% of its body weight.
All elephant seals spend one month a year on land to moult; they undergo what is called a "catastrophic moult” in which they shed all of their fur along with the underlying layer of skin. For just over a month, the seal is confined to land and spends most of its time dozing and lazily flipping sand onto itself to stay cool. It doesn’t eat and may lose up to 25% of its body weight.
18 comments:
What a super find - never have seen anything like it!
Thats a new one on me. Great shot. I probably would not get too close.
Little Fellow, surely you jest, we don't have them done here just Fur Seals, Grey Seals and the occasional Leopard Seal, if they come close while you are swimming they seem fine because "THEY" can get away, on land a different kettle of fish, wouldn't go within a barge pole of them - HAVE YOU SEEN THE TEETH, or SMELLED THE BREATH.
Cool pic...checked out the others on your other blog...did he move at all??
Great photos as always!
Sue
Amazing and so very interesting. Thanks for posting this.
I checked out the pics on your other blog -- great shots, all of them! I'd have had a hard time choosing just one for this blog.
Greast shot! He certainly looks relaxed--quite a contrast between the way he looks and the concept of a "catastphic" moult.
Really great photo! He even smiled for you or he is having a good dream.
Wow!! I just checked out your primary blog too. These are incredible photos. You did a fabulous job.
Wow, what a LOT of skin! Very cool picture!
I have seen the elephant seals in molting season at Ano Nuevo in California. It was incredible how smelly those creatures are...
You pics are great and this was a great idea for the skin theme...
Fabulous shots! I really enjoyed these! Your new title photo is just beautiful! You took that shot just at the right time! Great job!
Good shot and quick thinking for the theme too.
Learned something new. I didn't know seals molted. Fowl do, I know. But seals?
That was so interesting! I had no idea seals molt.
This photo is great - demonstrates mother Nature's way of blending him in with the driftwood - probably for camoflauge.
He looks so relaxed. Great shot.
I kept looking for my comment, thought I was losing it for a minute (probably not to hard to do). It was the other blog. Great picture with interesting information.
Totally relaxed - an interesting take on the theme.
While at Taronga Park Zoo I took a shot of two keepers giving a leopard seal an ultrasound and there is nothing Little about these guys. With regard to your Bridge climb Intentions try and pick a day (Unlike Sunday) when the temperature isn't over 40C (100F) or the wind is less than 20 knots because in high wind the bridge is designed to sway over twenty feet at the top, but in real high winds has been know to draw a sideways arc of over 40 feet, I won't go up there thank you. Ron
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