#December 18th

[dougdimmadodo]

Ribbon Seal (Histriophoca fasciata)

Family: Seal Family (Phocidae)

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Found in arctic regions of the northern Atlantic Ocean, the Ribbon Seal can be immediately distinguished from all other seals thanks to the distinctive banded fur of adults (typically black-and-white in males, while females can be black-and-white or brown-and-white), the purpose of which is something of a mystery (it has been suggested to be a form of camouflage, but how such a striking pattern would be any more effective as camouflage than the countershading seen in many other marine mammals is unclear.) Ribbon Seals spend the majority of their lives in the open ocean where they live solitary lives and feed on squids, octopuses and bony fishes such as cods, pollocks and eelpouts. During the later winter and early spring, however, large numbers of Ribbon Seals haul themselves onto masses of sea ice that are disconnected from the mainland to mate, give birth and undergo seasonal molts. During the mating season males will court females by producing grunts and roars using an inflatable sac in their throat (with each male courting and mating with several females), and after mating females are capable of delayed implantation (meaning that they can delay the development of fertilized ova until the ideal conditions to give birth in are met, in this case when sea ice is at its most abundant, to allow an embryo to develop.) After a gestation period of around 10-11 months a female Ribbon Seal will give birth to a single pup which is born with soft, fluffy white fur that (though suitable for providing camouflage and insulation) is not water tight, forcing them to remain on the ice they were born on until their adult coat develops (at which point their mother will guide them into the ocean and teach them how to hunt.)

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Animal Advent Calendar - Day 18

Image Source: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/41698-Histriophoca-fasciata

[taylorz-nicholasg]

T A Y L O R 💥

[0pandalanda0]

[papering-the-wall]

Happy 18th of DEPPcember! 

(Johnny Depp) (18/31) 

(21 Jump Street) [S1E3]

[mhabirthdays]

Happy Birthday

Susugu Mitarai (Laundry Hero: Wash) – December 18th

[babydollxxblood]

[favficbirthdays]

Happy Birthday

Idia Shroud (18th December)

Twisted Wonderland

[floridaboiler]

HAPPY NATIONAL TWIN DAY!!! On December 18th, National Twin Day celebrates all the siblings who enjoy the unique connection because they share a birthday. 

Source - https://mewe.com/p/bikinisummer

[snkrbonbon]

Air Jordan 12 'Blueberry'

[berryblonde1975]

happy Margaret day!!

[tamsoj]

Anne Sexton, from The heart of Anne Sexton’s poetry, “December 18th,”

[massoud91]

Dream a little dream

[planetbeanie]

Todays beanie of the day is Mistletoe the Bear

Birthday- 12/18/2000

[mental-breakdown-machine]

[papering-the-wall]

Happy 18th of DEPPcember! 

(Johnny Depp) (18/31) 

(Secret Window) [2004] 

[esotericgal]

*in the future*

teacher: when you know you know

my daughter: present