Page 6 - OAS Magazine Q2 Summer

PHOTOS BY: CHRISTIAN VIZL, VANESSA MIGNON, AND WYLAND
in the days ahead. The pup instinctively replies, teaching the mother its own voice as well.
In the center of a crowded rookery a mother has just given birth. The pup’s eyes are already open. In less than an hour, the pup can groom itself, scratch, walk — and even swim to a degree. The pup is barely more than a foot long, and black – although its color will gradually become lighter in the months ahead. The nursing mother immediately feeds the newborn a rich milk mixture, helping it build the insulating blubber that protects it from the cool water. The
nursing will continue for several months, until it can introduce fish into the pup’s diet.
After four days, the mother leaves the side of her baby. She is tentative at first. But she will need to nourish herself if she is to foster her own pup. She makes a short feeding trip at sea. Since most of the fish, mollusks and crustaceans she eats are found in shallow waters, she will not need to dive deeply, nor for a long time. Soon, however, she will be making longer feeding trips at sea, leaving her pup in the rowdy company of other pups. She will be ready to breed again in
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