I was contacted by a researcher from New Zealand, who wanted to know how long it took for fur seals to regrow their fur. She had cut fur from New Zealand fur seals for scientific samples, and noticed that it had not regrown completely when the animals were sighted the following year. I knew that many fur seals molt continuously, but was unsure of the exact amount of time it took for the hair to fully regrow. So I tried to find the information in the literature... and could not find it! How could we not know this information?
I contacted my friend and colleague, Dr. Carey Kuhn, a fur seal ecologist, and asked if she knew how long it took for fur seals to regrow their fur. She, too, had observed that the fur did not necessarily grow back completely within a year, but did not know exactly how long it would take. As we talked, we realized that this would be an important piece of information to know. Researchers regularly glue electronic devices to fur seals, in order to understand their movements and behavior at sea. It is assumed that these devices do not affect the fur seals while attached or after they are retrieved, but so far the effects have not been investigated. We decided that it was time to take a closer look...
Join us as we investigate different tagging methods and their effects on fur seal fur, in an effort to determine the best method for tagging fur seals.
Just chipped in to your RocketHub project! Just curious, how do you obtain the fur seal pelts? Are they from animals that have died or are they "vintage" ones from seals killed by trappers?
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for chipping in! You have a great question.
ReplyDeleteThe native Alaskans still maintain a subsistence hunt for their livelihood. They collaborate with the scientists studying fur seals, and kindly donate some pelts for our research.