On Sunday, March 22nd, a very dark grey seal weighing 18 kilos was found on Terschelling. When the young animal was washed at the SRRC, it turned out to be a beautiful black seal, the spitting image of the famous Black Lola.
Black Lola was found in 2005 on Vlieland. She quite rightly received a lot of media attention, because it was – and is – very special when an entirely black seal is born, especially a female. Since Black Lola, one other black seal has visited the SRRC: In 2007, the black male seal Onyx was found. These animals’ black fur is caused by an excessive amount of pigmentation. This is called melanism, the opposite of albinism, in which pigmentation is lacking.
Black Lola is easily recognisable due to her extraordinary fleece. This is why she is regularly spotted at the Engelse Hoek sandbank between Vlieland and Terschelling. It is actually impossible that this Black Beauty is Black Lola’s daughter, because she is still too young to have babies.
Black Beauty is suffering from severe pneumonia and is therefore short of breath. She still has a couple of tufts of white baby fur on her back flippers, which means that she is only three or four weeks old.
03-24-2009 Source: SRRC Lenie 't Hart
