Seals, seals everywhere…
Living in the middle of a seal colony is a bit nuts. The
smell alone is pretty spectacular… not to mention the noise. Fur seals are the
ultimate noisy neighbours, and they certainly don’t let a bit of darkness get
in the way of a good chat. Their squeals, grunts, growls, whimpers and
signature “hoof-choofing” can be heard at all times of the day and night. It’s
madness out there. And it’s not only out there, leave your door open and fresh
air isn’t the only thing you’ll get breezing in!
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| Puppies invite themselves in and get comfortable in the kitchen. |
Just outside the doors and windows of the base a whole world
of drama is unfolding. It seems pretty non-stop, but in-between the fights, the
births, the copulations and unfortunately the deaths, there are occasional
moments of peace for some of the seals. Some will catch a quick 40 winks, but
another favourite pastime seems to be Seal Yoga. The only thing that appears to beat a good
stretch is a nice, long scratch. Anything from a flipper, to a rock, to a corner
of the base steps will do for a seal with an itch (which seems to be most of them).
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| A big male practicing a spot of Seal Yoga |
Amongst the thousands of fur seals are the occasional impostors. The lumbering, tubby elephant seals always look a bit confused and outraged by the furry mayhem going on around them, but they do their best to find somewhere to doze off and ignore their hyperactive cousins.
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| Ellies looking confused about where they are and how they got there. |
One of the greatest things about the fur seals, is seeing
the mother-pup interactions. Once the pup has overcome the initial shock of
life in the colony the mum begins taking short trips out at sea to feed on
krill. While unsupervised the puppies tend to race around chasing and fighting
each other, checking out their surroundings and finding the best spots to sleep
in.
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| Puppies will squeeze themselves into any area not puppy-proofed. |
The re-unions are always worth taking time to watch. A
female will arrive on the beach sleek and hopefully with a belly full of food
and begin calling for her pup. Her calls often result in a commotion of eager
replies from every surrounding pup, but eventually she will distinguish the
familiar call of her own pup and the two will be re-united. It’s hard to
describe the pup’s reaction to its mother on her return, but there is a lot of
noise, nuzzling and excited ‘wiggling’. It’s almost like they thought they would never see their mummy again and now they literally can’t contain their excitement and might explode with happiness at any moment. After a good feed, the pair usual settle down for a nap together and don’t separate until Mum goes back to sea again.
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| A female rests on the beach with her rare blonde-furred pup |
