Over 400 fur seal pups were found resting in a shelter at the Farallon Islands National Wildlife Refuge off the coast of San Francisco — and the adorable sight was caught on video.
“I was surprised to see them all piled in there, being thrown into a washing machine,” shelter manager Gerry McChesney told SFGATE.
“They looked quite happy and like they were having a good time. … It was a lot of fun to watch.”
McChesney, who counted a staggering 440 of the creatures, took a video of them – which the US Fish and Wildlife Service shared on Instagram this week – hailing it as “a truly remarkable recovery”.
“Given that the entire colony cannot be seen, this was a minimal count and there were certainly many more,” McChesney continued.
The Farallon Islands and San Miguel Island in Santa Barbara County, California, are the only two fur seal roosts or breeding grounds south of Alaska.
“During the breeding season, the mausoleum is filled with fur seals,” McChesney told the media. “The waters just outside the quarry often have over several hundred fur seals hanging out to keep cool.”
The pups are born from June to August and usually stay in the breeding colony until November – until they go out to sea on their own.
“And knowing that the sighting represents such an amazing comeback for their population made the sighting mean so much more,” McChesney said.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the species was completely eliminated due to seal hunting. McChesney estimates that between 1810 and 1838 about 150,000 seals were killed.
Protection began in 1911 with the Northern Fur Seal Treaty, which banned the hunting of fur seals at sea. In 1972, the Marine Mammal Protection Act was passed by Congress, which prohibits the hunting and killing of marine mammals.
Two years after the act was passed, the Farallon Wilderness was formed and 141 acres of islands were closed to the public in an effort to allow the seals to return and breed.
In 1996, the first fur seal pup was born there in more than 150 years.
Last year, the island’s biologists first observed older seal pups using the cove as a refuge from predators such as sharks.
“The threat of shark attacks on seal pups is certainly there, and I’m sure the pups are aware of that,” McChesney told SFGATE.
“The harbor where the video was shot offers a secluded place to swim and play without worrying about sharks.”
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Image Source : nypost.com