seaps - Tumblr blog

[seaps]

love it when a nondog baby animal is called a pup anyway

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hey guys 💖 i'm still struggling a little financially; i took a huge pay cut just a few months ago after almost becoming homeless. it's at least something, but it's unfortunately not enough. i get paid again soon, but it won't be enough to cover my rent for april. 😭 just gonna quickly plug my ko-fi here: https://ko-fi.com/softselkies—please only donate if you feel inclined and if you're able to!!

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This “feel-good story” video is spreading misinformation for clicks and is DANGEROUS for seals. Most people aren’t familiar enough with safe seal interaction and their care to realize the captions are not only blatant lies but encourage behavior that will get seals hurt and killed! It’s more dangerous than the other problematic videos of people inappropriately interacting with seals because it falsely claims to be a credible source on proper seal care & interaction. This was likely done to keep people from questioning if the behavior was safe because “If an authority did it, I’ll trust their judgement.” In reality it shows just about everything you shouldn’t do to a baby seal and there’s a fair chance this seal may have died because of it. 

When you see this video posted on media sharing sites please report it for misinformation, and animal endangerment.

Feel free to link back to or quote this post to combat the misinformation.  First I’m going to go over the video and explain what parts are obvious lies so you know what I’m telling you is credible. Then I’m going to tell you why this video is creating misinformation that’s very dangerous to seals.

Field scientists and seals rescue centers are two different things.(1*) The video does not show any actual rehabilitation.(2*) The seal in the video isn’t emaciated and doesn’t require rescue.(3*) Seal rehabilitation takes months, not 3 days.(4*) Contact between the seal and humans isn’t being minimized.(5*) The behavior shown is dangerous for multiple health & safety reasons. (6*)  Seal rescuers don’t use dogs as therapy animals for seals(7*).  Each section has been explained in greater detail if you expand this post.

If people see this video and believe it is a credible source they will think this is acceptable and safe interaction with a seal, when it is not. Just approaching and petting a friendly baby seal can mark it for death. You won’t see the slow painful suffering of starvation you caused when you approached the seal pup still too young to eat anything but the milk of its mother. The mother who you didn’t see, but she saw you and fled, abandoning her pup which will now starve to death needlessly because you wanted to pet it and take a selfie. Hundreds of pups die needlessly every year already because people keep doing this!  Playing with a seal isn’t safe for you, your pet, or the seal. Even a baby seal can slice your hand open and cause severe bleeding that requires stitches. I’ve seen it happen to rescue workers.   While some dogs are friendly, all dogs carry bacteria in their mouths that is normal for dogs but cause serious illness and even death if other animals are exposed to it. Dogs are also capable of having their own thoughts and behaving unexpectedly; your dog is not an extension of you under your complete control. They can and do bite and attack, especially other animals.  Seals don’t understand “sometimes”. So if they are taught humans and dogs are friendly, they think all are friendly. When they go up to the wrong person or dog they’ll be attacked with a chance of being severely injured or killed- many people find abusing seals fun, and plenty of video evidence of it happening regularly. The most easy to find evidence I have on hand are the sea lions who are abused, and injured (sometimes to the point of death) on a daily basis at La Jolla. Trampling, injury, and stillbirths are the norm due to humans being careless- either for a selfie, their own amusement because they “paid for this vacation so they are going to hold that sea lion!” or other intentional maliciousness. (See either my prior post here https://bit.ly/SlushyLaJolla or this blog that posts videos of the abuse almost daily https://bit.ly/DailyLaJollaSealVideos ) And that’s just what we see due to the diligent efforts of one person’s reporting. People will act like people everywhere especially when no other people are there to witness it, the only way to keep seals safe from them is to let seals believe all humans are dangerous and to avoid them, not socialize with them. Seals that learn they can get food from humans are sometimes classified as pests by authorities and often get put down. Seals that go to fishermen for food get shot- you won’t usually see videos of that side of it posted to social media for obvious reasons, but it happens regularly. 

If the person who made this for attention actually cares about seals? Do the right thing and make a video telling the truth. You misrepresented animal rescues. You are endangering what you claim to save. If there is an ounce of decency in you, set the record straight; you don’t actually represent any scientists or rescue, admit you made a mistake and did something wrong, and that your original video is a lie.

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[seaps]

hey guys 💖 i'm still struggling a little financially; i took a huge pay cut just a few months ago after almost becoming homeless. it's at least something, but it's unfortunately not enough. i get paid again soon, but it won't be enough to cover my rent for april. 😭 just gonna quickly plug my ko-fi here: https://ko-fi.com/softselkies—please only donate if you feel inclined and if you're able to!!

[seaps]

Today's Seal Is: Ya Really Mean It?

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you are walking in a Forest ... and you come across this Fried Shramp (with So Much Love in its eyes)

What Do You Do ......

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Today's Seal Is: Gentle Torpedo

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ah, excuse me-

*deep breath*

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

ahem

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family guy has ruined my life because why has this song been stuck in my head for a solid week straight

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friendly reminder that i'm selling these cute holographic heart baby harp seal stickers!! these can be found here: https://sealationcreations.etsy.com

once i'm up on my feet, more of my designs will be put up in my shop 🥰💕

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i was served my eviction notice yesterday and i'm becoming desperate for help. i've done two job interviews recently and i don't hear back from either until the middle of next week. i have a job right now but it pays less than florida minimum wage and i'm spending a lot of money on lyfts just to get to and from there. if anyone can donate or help spread this, that would help me so much. my ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/softselkies

i just want to get back to painting seals but i need to secure employment and keep my apartment first 💔

friendly reminder that i'm selling these cute holographic heart baby harp seal stickers!! these can be found here: https://sealationcreations.etsy.com

once i'm up on my feet, more of my designs will be put up in my shop 🥰💕

[seaps]

friendly reminder that i'm selling these cute holographic heart baby harp seal stickers!! these can be found here: https://sealationcreations.etsy.com

once i'm up on my feet, more of my designs will be put up in my shop 🥰💕

[seaps]

started drawing some seals! i'm planning on making seal stickers and selling them 🥰 what do we think? the right is a wip still; i haven't touched my tablet in a looong while so i'm gonna tweak it a bunch more probably lol

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forgot to update here! my shop is live!! you can get some cute holographic baby harp seal stickers if you want one!! link to my shop: https://sealationcreations.etsy.com

i'm also facing eviction because my former employer of 4.5 years terminated me under extremely weird circumstances literally just a few weeks ago, so any and all donations are extremely welcomed and i thank you so much in advance if you decide to donate 💕 https://tr.ee/chVkbuRyIQ

started drawing some seals! i'm planning on making seal stickers and selling them 🥰 what do we think? the right is a wip still; i haven't touched my tablet in a looong while so i'm gonna tweak it a bunch more probably lol

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Hi !! I voted already and I can't find the one seal mentioned in the newcomers category- the hybrid??? Can you show her? I forgot her name 💔

Her name is Gaia! Her mom is a gray seal named Else and her father is a harbor seal named Arn. She was born on February 9th at the The Fisheries and Maritime Museum. She's history's first known hybrid of a grey and harbor seal! She's one a kind.

She's doing very well. Here's a recent video of her, she's very playful and silly.

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You know what time it is. It's our fourth year running, and we've got lots of cool stuff for you this year! First, to get comfortable with our nominees go check out or Pinnepedia: a permanent index of all our current contestants! Additionally, we've now got Category Voting to keep things fresh and keep one specific seal (you know who you are, concrete eater) from sweeping multiple years in a row. You can now vote in all kinds of areas like...

Silliest Seal

Best Girl

Best Boy

Best Newcomer

Best Super Senior

Best Vintage Sealebrities

And Best Seal Subspecies!

And for those who liked our previous style, we didn't forget you...

We've got a free-for-all vote! Now get out there and galumph to the polls!

[seaps]

if you anger him... you will have committed the Biggest Mistake Of Your Life