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Gray seals have wide varying mother styles , with some inattentive stamp momma just control up on their pups at all , even if they sense a terror to their safety , a raw subject on Navy SEAL Colony in Scotland see .
The scientist involve in the sketch contribute the various parenting styles to personality differences among thewild gray seals(Halichoerus grypus ) . Their personalities determine how these maritime mammals reply to different situations , and , in turn , the extent to which they guard and care for their young , according to the study .
Mother seals' personalities determine whether they will frequently check on their pups to make sure they are safe, according to the researchers. In the above photo, an attentive gray seal mother checks up on her pup.
Over the course of study of two old age , the researchers observed cachet in their instinctive home ground on the Scottish island of North Rona during their facts of life season , which contain piazza between September and November . Monitoring thebehavior of the sealsfor two years was potential because many seals fall to the same site to multiply , and the researcher were able-bodied to identify particular seal by their single fur patterns .
To consider how theseals respond to external stimuliand potential threats , the team fitted a remote control - controlled vehicle ( RCV ) with a video photographic camera and program the vehicle to border on the cachet . The researchers conducted 11 - mo - long trial on 28 females , during which the fomite approach the seals while emit a wolf call .
The results read thatthe sealskin ' responsesranged from whole disregard the RCV ’s front to being fast-growing and push it with their muzzle . The team gauged the cachet mothers ' response by immortalise how many times the moms ensure on their pups during a specific time period . Females be given to quell with their pup and conduct " deterrent " on them by raise their heads off the ground and moving it in the direction of their young so as to verify the whelp ' well - being .
The above gray seal mother is aggressively protecting her pup.
" We found that some seal mother are very watchful when something potentially threaten overture them , while other mums ( mothers ) barely check their pup at all , " subject research worker Sean Twiss of Durham University said in a affirmation . " Why female gray sealskin express individually consistent patterns of pup checking is unnamed . "
Twiss contribute that you ’d expect the moms " to change their behavior according to the post , but the non - paying attention mothers remained inattentive . "
The researchers also used the RCV to tick off the male seal ' responses , find a likewise encompassing range of " fathering , " with some seals rapidly retreat while other males approached the RCV in a challenging way , such as with their mouths open , whichseals view as a threat .
An alert gray male seal looking out for signs of danger.
" Our finding show that there is no such thing as an average seal , " Twiss enunciate . " person behave other than and do so consistently . "
Among both virile and distaff seals , response were not associate to factors such as years or size . The researchers noted that further studies are involve to better understand the nature and ecologic issue of individual difference in conduct .
The study was recently published in the daybook Marine Mammal Science , and its findings will be presented at the nineteenth Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals in Tampa , Fla. , which embark on Sunday ( Nov. 27 ) and continues through Friday ( Dec. 2 ) .
