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Saturday, May 18, 2024

Subtle shades

  

A zoomed-in view, comparing color and pattern variation in Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina).  [You can click on the image for a larger version.]

4 comments:

Manne said...

Beautiful……!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Would love to know more about these variations

Sybold said...

Jackie! You artist you.
Aside from the teaching, you capture so many aspects of color, form, light, shadow, movement. And my gracious sakes alive, texture!

Jackie Sones said...

Hi, all!

Thanks so much! Honestly, I wasn't totally sure about sharing this photo. It's somewhat abstract, but I liked it, and sometimes it's fun to share something different.

I've always appreciated the variability in Harbor Seal fur colors, but I don't know much about the reasoning for it. I've read that there are different color morphs -- pale, dark, and intermediate -- and that it's possible there's a genetic basis for them. It's also possible that Harbor Seals living in different parts of the world have different ratios of the color morphs.

Interestingly, the spot patterns remain consistent through molts, so they can be used to identify individuals.

In this photo, the silvery fur is a pup = born this year.

Jackie