Smoke mid-molt

At the New England Aquarium, Atlantic harbor seals molt July/August, California sea lions molt Sept/Oct, and the Northern fur seals molt Oct/Nov. It is most obvious on the harbor seals, as you can see patches of old and new hair.  

Ah summer, when a young man's thoughts turn to, well, napping. Once breeding season is over, male Northern fur seals begin to molt. As they lose their old fur and acquire a new coat, their appetite decreases and they start to drop much of the extra 100 pounds or so that they gained in the spring. As many of us can attest, losing weight is hard work. Just check these guys out.






~ Jenny


Isaac

If you have walked by the Atlantic Harbor Seal exhibit recently, you may have seen something that only happens during this time of year. Our harbor seals are molting! Molting is a process where a seal sheds its old coat of hair as a brand new beautiful coat grows in. For much of the two to three weeks it takes to molt, our seals spend a lot of time hauled out on the rocks. It may look like they are just taking advantage of the beautiful summer weather, but staying out on the rocks serves a really important purpose.


This gives them the opportunity to rest and conserve energy as their bodies go through the molting process. During the molting season, which begins in early July and ends in early August, there are days when you may find all seven seals taking a snooze during the day. As the new hair grows in, their skin can be more sensitive, so we give the seals Vitamin E until their new coats are complete. Check out the picture above. How many seals can you find hauled out on the rocks?

As you know, we have been doing a lot of work with lobsters the last few months. Justin even posted a video of one of his lobsters molting. Just this week, Anita taped another lobster molting, but you'll notice this lobster is a surprising color.







The old shell is a light blue color, and the lobster itself is white. At the start of the video, the lobster is trying to get its claws, abdomen and tail out of the old shell. The lobster definitely looks like it is having a difficult time. Although the molting process only takes a few minutes, a lobster spends much of its life preparing to molt or recovering from molting. After molting, the lobster will bring water into its tissues and increase in size – sometimes it will gain up to 50% of its previous weight. The new shell hardens over the next couple days and the lobster will eat its old shell for nutrition.

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A few weeks ago I told you that we were starting to train some juvenile lobsters in the Aquarium's lobster research lab. These lobsters were hatched at the Aquarium and it's been really interesting watching them grow. Lobsters don't grow gradually like we do, they only grow when they molt their shells. Their shells don't grow with their body, so in order to get larger they have to pull their bodies out of the old shell. They have a new shell underneath but it is very soft.

While they are soft they take water into their bodies to expand, and then harden up after that. All crustaceans molt. Have you ever eaten a soft-shelled crab? You're eating a crab that has recently gone through this molting process. Younger lobsters tend to molt more frequently than older ones. I think the coolest things about lobster molting is that they usually eat their old shell after they've shed it. Yum!

The molting season is in full swing for the harbor seals. Here are some photos from the past few days of Smoke, our oldest harbor seal.

The brown areas are patches of old hair, the silver is all new stuff.

-Justin

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The air is warm, the sun is bright and the faint (and sometimes not so faint) aroma of sunbathing harbor seals fills the air. Summer is molting season.

Warm and fuzzy

The harbor seals will lose their hair soon. No need for Rogaine or Propecia, though. Our seals will replace their lost hair on their own over a couple of weeks. Since the seals rely on their hair to protect their skin they need it to be in good condition, so their coat is replaced once a year.

Sunbathing beauties

During this time they tend to spend more time out of the water. We call this "hauling out." Sunbathing promotes more blood flow to the skin and allows for a quick replacement of healthy hair. While they are molting their appetite decreases and they often aren't their usual spunky selves. Growing all new hair is hard work! By the end of August all of our harbor seals will have new glossy coats appropriate for any herbal shampoo commercial.

-Justin