#seal

#seal

Seal Crossing Sign Installed to Commemorate Shoebert the SealBeverly, Massachusetts — For days, Shoebert the seal was spotted swimming in the Shoe Pond. One day, unexpectedly, the seal decided to surrender himself to Beverly Police, flopping on the way to the station. Why he did that, nobody knows.The seal was brought to Connecticut's Mystic Aquarium, where he got a health assessment. He was then fitted with a satellite tracker and released back into the ocean near Block Island. However, some people still hope that Shoebert might return to the city one day.A "seal crossing" sign was recently erected at the office park adjacent to the Shoe Pond to remember Shoebert's activities in the city.Sarah Callan, manager of the Mystic Aquarium Animal Rescue Program, thinks Shoebert will not stay near Beverly for long. He also appears to be heading north along with other seals traveling in the same direction.Aside from tracking Shoebert, the tracker also functions as a research tool to study the habits of seals.(Images: NBC Boston)#Animals #Seal #Massachusetts #Weird

Shoebert the Seal Turned Himself In by Waddling up to the Police StationIf cuteness is a crime, then Shoebert the gray seal is a master criminal.The gray seal turned himself in to the local police station ... by waddling up, just like how any other seals move on land. And by this, his adventure being on the lam in the city of Beverly, Massachusetts, finally came to an end.Shoebert first appeared in Shoe Pond, which he was named after, earlier in September and immediately caught the attention of locals. It is believed that the seal had to travel through rivers and pipes to get there from the sea.Attempts to capture the gray seal were conducted by wildlife experts and firefighters without success. However, apparently the seal chose to take the initiative and turned himself in the very next day.Shoebert decided to get out of the pond, waddled across a parking lot, andappeared at the door of the local police station where he was noticed by officers:At approximately 230am on 09/23/22 we had a visit from everyone’s favorite seal Shoebert. Shoebert made his way out of the pond and traveled through the Cummings Center parking lot and came to the side door of the police station for some help.He was then transported to Connecticut for a medical exam before being re-released in a remote location where he can meet other seals in the wild.Image: Beverly Police Department#seal #shoebert

Seal Invades Home, Traumatizes CatOne summer, my family tried a prototype for a cat door, and ended up having to evict an opossum that took up residence in the laundry room. Where you live decides what wildlife you are literally opening the door for. A young New Zealand fur seal made its way into a family home in Mt. Maunganui, New Zealand. Jenn Ross arrived home from the gym at about 7AM Wednesday and found the seal in her house. She assumed it followed their cat Coco through two cat flaps to get inside. The seal wandered down the hall and stayed in a spare room while Jenn called wildlife authorities. The seal stayed in the house for a couple of hours, hanging out on the couch, before Ross was able to usher it outside. Yes, she woke the kids to come meet the invader. Phil Ross, coincidentally a marine biologist, was not at home during the incident.“The big joke is that this is really the only family emergency where it would be useful to have a marine biologist in the house,” he said. “I really missed my time to shine.”Coco the cat was later found at a neighbor's house. She was taken home, but since Wednesday has refused to go downstairs where the seal was. You can see a video of the seal at the Guardian. -via reddit#seal #homeinvasion #cat

A Baby Boom at the Louisville ZooBabies are spring up all over at the Louisville Zoo in Kentucky! On May 19, the zoo welcomed the birth of three Canada lynx kittens to mother Matilda and father Sitka. The kittens are doing well and will be in seclusion until late June. Also in May, a Bennett’s wallaby named Alexa gave birth to four joeys. She's carrying three of them in her pouch, where they normally stay for nine months or so. One male joey left the pouch early (too crowded?) and is being cared for by zoo staff.But there's more! In April, a harbor seal named Tonie gave birth to her first seal pup at the Louisville Zoo. Azizi, a Hartman's mountain zebra, delivered a female foal on May 13. The foal is already on display to the public.

Winners of the 2021 World Nature Photography AwardsWe live in a beautiful world full of wholesome moments. But this world also has its share of terrifying moments and pictures, which remind us that the world can be dark. This image of a leopard seal trying to eat a Gentoo penguin is a great example. Amos Nachoum took this photo on a remote island off the Antarctic Peninsula during the low tide in the area.Nachoum's image, titled "Facing Reality" won the grand prize of The 2021 World Nature Photography Awards. Also handed to him was the World Nature Photographer of the Year title. Nachoum wrote:For hours, I waited for the low tide to arrive along a shallow lagoon on a remote island off the Antarctic Peninsula. Like clockwork, the leopard seal arrived in the lagoon just before low tide. It put its head in the water and looked just like a rock sitting in the receding water. The young Gentoo penguins only dare to enter the water when it is shallow and when they got close enough to the seal, it turned its head at lightning speed, catching one of the penguins by its feet and taking it to deep water. Once the seal reached open water, I followed it and swam parallel to it, observing its actions. To my surprise, it let go of the penguin twice. Each time, the seal chased after the penguin again, as if it was enjoying the game. The terrified penguin tried to escape as the game continued. But soon, the end came.As I said before, we live in a beautiful world, as shown by the other pictures submitted in the competition, like this picture of macaques enjoying each other's warmth.Here are some of the pictures from the 2021 World Nature Photography Awards. You may also submit photos to the website for this year's competition.Image: Amos Nachoum#Nature #Photography #Animals #WorldNaturePhotographyAwards #penguin #GentooPenguin #seal

Seals Wearing Sensor Hats Help Researchers Investigate the Antarctic OceanLarge and predatory Weddell seals were given a chance to wear cute hats in the name of science. But, no, these aren’t those party hats you commonly see at birthday parties. These are lightweight sensors that give important data back to oceanographers in Antarctica.As ships find it hard to navigate through thick blocks of ice in the region, researchers from Japan's National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) have found a clever way to solve their problems. Equipment that records conductivity, temperature, and depths were attached to these Weddell seals. The researchers wanted to find out the seasonal biological productions throughout the continental shelf areas.The equipment transmitted data showing the dependency of the depth of warm water to the seasons. This, in turn, made researchers consider the enhancement of prey availability due to wind-driven physical processes in the Antarctic coastal marine ecosystem. These important sensor hats proved to be powerful research tools in exploring oceanographic and ecological conditions that may otherwise be futile due to close-to-impossible navigation.Image: Nobuo Kokobun/NIPR#seal #WeddellSeal #Antarctica #sensor #hat

The Funniest Animals From the 2021 Comedy Wildlife Photography AwardsThe Comedy Wildlife Photography Awardscompetition has just released their 2021 finalists for the world's funniest animals, so how could we not post it on Supa Fluffy?The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards competition was started 7 years ago back in 2015 by wildlife photographer Paul Joynson-Hicks MBE. Tom Sullam and Michelle Wood joined in afterwards and the founders grew the online award to a tradition that people all over the world look forward to every year.In addition to photographs, this year's competition also has funny animals caught on video. This one above is from "Hugging best friend after lockdown" by Rahul Lakhmani.More than 7,000 photographs were submitted to the competition and a total of 42 photographs were selected as finalists. The category and overall winners will be announced on October 22, 2021.#FunnyAnimals #ComedyWildlifePhotographyAwardTake a look at our favorite funny animals and finalists 2021 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards below: