Stories1 min(s) read
Published 07:48 10 Sep 2020 GMT
An incredibly rare ginger seal has been spotted by scientists in Russia, though experts are concerned that its unusual coloring may mean that it needs to be re-homed.
The pup was reportedly born just a month ago on the island of Tyuleny in the sea of Okhotsk, Russia, where many seals can be located.
The ginger seal was spotted by marine mammal biologist Vladimir Burkanov, who was on a field trip to the island. The young seal stands out particularly next to other seals due to it being partially albino, meaning it has golden fur, blue eyes and pink flippers.
An Instagram video showing the seal pup is captioned, ""Ugly duck" - albino fur seal is rare event. They more looks red than white. This is a clear albino without any pigmentation even in eyes."
[[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/CEyK2S_AIV2/]]
A few years ago, another ginger seal pup was shunned by its colony, leading to concerns that the same thing could happen in this case.
"This pup looks well fed and was very active, so its mother clearly gave it plenty of milk.
Other seals don’t pay too much attention to it in a somewhat worrying manner, so something is not quite right with it. But it is not getting chased or bitten." Burkanov told the Siberian Times. Per the publication, the chances of a partial albino birth of this nature are one in 100,000.
Experts will now pay special attention to the rookery in case the seal pup needs to be rescued and re-homed if it's rejected. The ginger seal is believed to have poor eyesight, and Burkanov says its chances of breeding are slim-to-none.
In a separate post on Albino seals, Burkanov wrote on Instagram:
A photo of an albino (partial albino or chromist) fur seal pup aroused the interest of visitors to my page. I tried to find information on the age of similar unusual color of young fur seal, my former student, and now a colleague Sergey Fomin photographed at the Severo-Zapadnoe rookery on the Bering Island in fall 2017. The animal was 2 or 3 years old and physically in good shape, even it was clear it had poor sight. I turned to him to clarify the age of that albino, and Sergeн replayed me that he had seen and photographed the same male this summer again! In the exact location of the Severo-Zapadnoe rookery, where he photographed the animal in the fall of 2017. The albino is now matured bull 5-6 years old. He did not participate in reproduction this season and was seen on the bachelor section of the rookery only. Perhaps, this is the first documented case of the survival of a northern fur seal of an abnormal color to adulthood.
[[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/CE4o_BrgcK_/]]
