#Phocidae

[silky-selkie]

Don’t make me put your ass in the sealbarrow

[sealsdaily]

Today's Seals Are: Wishing You A Wonderful

[pinniposting]

seal scratchies

via

[randumbkatt]

this picture is so beautiful to me, the colours brothers

[snototter]

Hawaiian monk seals (Neomonachus schauinslandi) play in the shallows in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, Hawai'i

by NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries

[s0fich]

some more sealberries

[drowsyfudge]

skibidi

[merenq]

leopard seal doodle that i made a long time ago (and that i keep forgetting about)

[morgansram]

Seal explaining something to other seal

[snufkinsong]

This is going to be a more serious post, about (yes) seals.

It is warming my heart to see so many people celebrating the birth of Yo's baby. She is the seal that made me fall in love with pinnipeds a few years ago, and she is also where I got my social media namesake on the godforsaken hellhole that is twitter. I hope some old twitter mutuals might see this and guess who I am haha (besides the friends who I've stayed in touch with beyond twt like @seaps who is the sweetest ever).

Anyways, for anyone who isn't familiar with Yo and her history, I am going to rehash and paraphrase/shorten my old "yo biography" that I put in a hidden page on my neocities website a while ago. She is a ringed seal who resides at the Okhotsk Tokkari Center, one of Japan's only marine mammal rehabilitation and rescue centers. Yo was rescued in Rausu town on May 3rd at the age of approximately one month and two weeks old at the beginning of the May of 2011. Like many rescued seals, she was found separated from her mother and needing care.

Yo's name was officially announced on September 5th, 2011, after accepting suggestions from July 22nd to August 21st. According to the Tokkari center website "The name comes from the idea that "we hope she grows up healthy like the sun."

I want you all to know that Yo has been a mama for a while now. Hikaru was born in 2018. Her keepers didn't know she was pregnant, but were surprised one day to find little Hikaru worming around on the floor as baby ringies do. Hikaru means "shining light."

"Hikaru, just as his name suggests, was a shining light to everyone and grew up to be very healthy."

She tragically lost her baby Hikaru in 2021. This letter in his memory is one of the things that solidified my appreciation for the caretakers at the Tokkari Center. You can also read about the details of his life and passing here.

It is titled

To Hikaru in heaven: A message from former zookeeper Masako Okazaki about the love nurtured between a seal and a human

The final words say:

My beloved Hikaru, thank you for being born.

I cannot speak to how much animals may feel grief. I hope Yo, as a seal, did not have to feel the pain of losing her baby as her caretakers and the people who grew familiar with Hikaru did. (If you would like to see videos of him, I highly recommend checking out the account of my insta mutual hakuhime_az. He loved to sing by making little hoo hoo noises. Yo made hoo hoo noises as a very small baby according to an old blog post I read, but Hikaru never grew out of it! Some Hikaru singing videos should be on her profile if you scroll enough!)

Nonetheless, it makes my heart warm to see Yo fiercely protecting her new pup this year. Seeing her able to raise another baby, I feel full. Just know that she has been a strong and feisty mom for a longer time than you might have thought :)

On that note, let's all enjoy the adorable videos and photos of her and her little baby, and please do not repost the videos and photos of photographers and videographers without permission. (Azara's typically have messages in their sns bios asking people not to do this)

I love animals and appreciating how they care for each other.

[silky-selkie]

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X

[sealsdaily]

Today's Seal Is: Press X To Break Out

[pinniposting]

bah

via

[randumbkatt]

aaaaaa boo hoo hoo aaaa sob sob aaaa sniff sniff sob

[snototter]

A leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx) emerges from the kelp on Bird Island, South Georgia

by Derren Fox