Marine biologists follow the rare seal puppy for fear of being rejected due to its unique and almost blond appearance • "Meanwhile the mother feeds him well and takes care of him"
In recent weeks, Russia's marine biologists, led by researcher Vladimir Burkenov, have been following a rare albino seal puppy.
The follow-up is done out of fear that due to its unique and rare appearance, the band to which it was born will reject it.
This ginger seal pup pic.twitter.com/8Sns9UYlvY
- Tay J (@ Taylorshea96) September 11, 2020
The chances of giving birth to an albino seal stand at one in 100,000 births, and such puppies look very different from their bandmates.
The albino puppies are redheads, almost blond, with pink fins and blue eyes.
A sight that is considered unusual among seals, so much so that the rest of the band members may not recognize the puppy as one of their own and actually reject it and not feed and care for it at all.
Vladimir Burkenov, who was interviewed by the Siberian Times, said: "Several years ago such a puppy was born named Nafania, in another band that denied him, socially excommunicated him and did not feed him. Sons of loneliness. As for this seal, it seems that in the meantime his mother feeds him well and takes care of him. At this point in time we are less worried. On the other hand, the band seems to be moving away from him, so we will follow him to see what happens to him. We will rescue him. "
Rare blue-eyed ginger seal pup found by biologists @ Sea of Okhotsk rookery.
Nicknamed 'ugly duckling' for its appearance, the pup will be monitored to ensure its not rejected by the others like it happened years ago to another seal called Nafanya (3d pic) https://t.co/Nf3W6gHacn pic.twitter.com / 0Gtnf9b0PW
- The Siberian Times (@siberian_times) September 9, 2020
In fact albino seals have less good eyesight in the first place and their chances of surviving in the wild are relatively low.
But at the same time, not all seals of this type are rejected by the band.
For researchers, in any case, the best option is to allow a resident to grow up among members of the same sex.
They will intervene and rescue him only in case he is ostracized, or following visual difficulties that will significantly reduce his chances of surviving in the wild.
