Gray Seal Pup Growing and Thriving Feb 05, 2014
After a tough start, our new seal pup appears to be thriving and rapidly gaining weight! She now weighs 60 pounds; that's almost double her birth weight.
Gray seals generally nurse from their mothers for about 15 to 20 days. Our team of keepers and veterinarians continue to supplement nursing with six bottle feedings each day, but they hope in the next few weeks to start feeding her more fish and reduce the amount of formula she eats.
The pup is starting to lose her white coat, known as the lanugo coat. It is a fluffy white coat that gray seals are born with that insulates them until they pack on enough fat to keep them warm in the cold climate they live in. They molt their coats after roughly two weeks, around the time they start to wean. Then their permanent coloring starts showing.
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