Seal monitoring camera: what happened in the interval?
Text: Ivar Jüssi
Screenshot: Mutikluti from forum
Translation: Liis from forum
During their breeding period the seals used up much energy. The females lost up to half of their body weight. They have now had one and a half month to build up their stores of fat again, but a new “beach season” presses on. Unlike two-legged beings pinnipeds believe in “the fatter the more beautiful”. May is the peak month for moulting for the gray seals, and to speed up metabolism in the skin, warmth and light (to produce vitamin D) are necessary. The light comes from the sun, and so the seals spend as much time as they can out of water. Moulting lasts about one month for seals. After that food forage trips again follow.
Bird species nesting on the island, and seen on camera (Estonian names in parenthesis):
- common eider (hahk)
- herring gull (hõbekajakas)
- great black-backed gull (merikajakas)
- mew gull (kalakajakas)
- arctic gull (randtiir)
- Caspian gull (räusk)
- oystercatcher (meriski)
- carrion crow (hallvares)
And guest performers seen to date:
- mallard (sinikaelpart)
- goldeneye (sõtkas)
- cormorant (kormoran)
- mute swan (kühmnokk-luik)
We will introduce the inhabitants and their doings to you in greater detail during the next weeks .
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