ringed seal - Netherlands (1 Viewer)

MarkHows

Mostly Mammals

• Aug 20, 2012

• #1

One at the weekend with photos, so keep a look out on the east coast.

Mark

 

W

Welsh Peregrine

Well-known member

• Aug 20, 2012

• #2

What had it taken photos of?

 

Farnboro John

Well-known member

• Aug 20, 2012

• #3

Link to photos, Mark?

John

 

MarkHows

Mostly Mammals

• Aug 20, 2012

• #4

Farnboro John said:

Link to photos, Mark?

John

Click to expand...

Sorry for the delay, my company has decreed birdforum breaks out social netwoking policy (yep lumped in with facebook and twitter etc.) and cannot be accessed on our work computers, so I have to do stuff on my phone and have not mastered posting photos or links yet. I can just about phone and text people.

Anyway the details and a link to the photo apparently present for a while in a grey seal colony

http://waarneming.nl/soort/view/7761?from=2012-08-18&to=2012-08-18

Mark

 

Last edited: Aug 20, 2012

Farnboro John

Well-known member

• Aug 20, 2012

• #5

Now call me a cynic but after the walrus fiasco my expectations were not high.

Unfortunately what I see there is the broad muzzle and typical banana posture of a Common Seal, not the tiny face of a Ringed.

I can see the light is difficult and I know both species are variable in coloration, but I would expect to be able to see patterning somewhere on the beast even though it is wet.

Comments welcome.

John

 

MarkHows

Mostly Mammals

• Aug 21, 2012

• #6

Farnboro John said:

Now call me a cynic but after the walrus fiasco my expectations were not high.

Unfortunately what I see there is the broad muzzle and typical banana posture of a Common Seal, not the tiny face of a Ringed.

I can see the light is difficult and I know both species are variable in coloration, but I would expect to be able to see patterning somewhere on the beast even though it is wet.

Comments welcome.

John

Click to expand...

I have finally had a chance to study the photo and agree that it is not a great photo, the muzzle is pretty similar although a little longer in common seals, and ringed seals do assume the bannana posture but what is if concern is not being able to see any rosettes on the body at all.

Not convinced from the photo but I was not there.

Anyone else any thoughts

Mark

 

Xenospiza

Distracted

• Aug 21, 2012

• #7

I can't find any discussion about it. There is about one picked up per year in the Netherlands (the sea mammal "saviours" always beat the twitchers).

 

MarkHows

Mostly Mammals

• Aug 23, 2012

• #8

I think the consensus is that this is probably a common seal.

Mark

 

M

Malloot

Well-known member

• Aug 23, 2012

• #9

Here a link to a discussion.

My conclusion is a juvenile common seal.