ANIMALS

Sausage Dog and Seal Puppy Became Instant BFFs at First Sight

Meeting someone and feeling an instant connection is a common experience, especially during vacations. It’s thrilling to find someone we can connect with right away, and these chance encounters can turn into long-lasting friendships, despite differences in background and culture.

Interestingly, the same can be said for animals, as shown in the story below of the adorable dog and seal.

Image source: Melanie Talbot

While on vacation with his owner Melanie Talbot, a dachshund named Stanley befriended an unlikely companion at the Sea Life Trust Cornish Seal Sanctuary in Cornwall, England. Upon entering the underwater viewing areas, Stanley was immediately captivated by Aayla, a large seal in the tank, who reciprocated his attention by becoming more active and gazing back at him through the glass.

Image source: Melanie Talbot

For about 20 minutes, the pair engaged with one another and even took some great photos together. They seemed genuinely intrigued by each other, to the point where some speculated that the seal might have mistaken Stanley for another seal, as he was wearing a jacket that covered his ears. Aayla even greeted him by waving her flippers and tilting her head, much like a dog’s behavior.

Talbot was thrilled to witness the instant connection between the two animals. She recalled a remark someone made about her dog resembling a seal when he sleeps with his legs tucked in, which could be a reason why the land pup and sea pup felt a sense of familiarity with each other.

Image source: Melanie Talbot

“Aayla is often found by the underwater viewing, she absolutely loves interacting with people and dogs,” explained Georgina Shannon of the Sea Life Trust Cornish Seal Sanctuary. “We are often sent photos from our guests who have captured Aayla interacting with their dogs, so this isn’t the first time she has made friends with a dog, although she seemed to really love Stanley!”

“I think she was absolutely fascinated by him!” elaborated Georgina Shannon. “You can see from the photos she was really interested in him and spent a long time looking at him through the glass.”

Image source: Melanie Talbot

The sanctuary housed the 2-year-old seal permanently, and she had a lively and energetic personality.

“Aayla was rescued from Bacton, Norfolk in January 2017 and taken to a local rehabilitation center. She was malnourished and had a small injury on her right flipper,” shared Shannon. “The flipper was discovered to be severely infected and several of the bones had to be removed, meaning she had to receive continuous care. The Sanctuary welcomed Aayla to the family in July 2018 to provide her with a permanent home.”

Image source: Melanie Talbot

“Aayla is very active and enjoys playing with other seals,” continued Shannon. “Her favorite activity is to sneak up to the team and to pester the other seals when sunbathing. Aayla is very intelligent and quick to pick up new things during her training sessions. Even with her part amputated flipper she still manages to keep up with the others and get into plenty of mischief!”

Image source: Melanie Talbot

For over six decades, the Sea Life Trust Cornish Seal Sanctuary in Gweek, Cornwall, has been providing a safe haven and care for a large number of seals and other marine animals that are sick, injured, or distressed. While some animals that can recover enough are released back into the wild, many rescued animals, including Aayla, remain in the sanctuary for the rest of their lives.

Image source: Melanie Talbot

“Something that people may not know about our seal pups is that once they are released, they travel far and wide,” explained Shannon. “We have had reports from Ireland that one of our released pups has been spotted there! We can receive this information as each pup we release has a flipper tag with a number on so if they are spotted, we will know which seal it is by their tag number.”

Image source: Melanie Talbot

The photos featuring Stanley and Aayla have become an internet sensation. You can find more of their daily lives on Talbot’s Instagram and the official Instagram account of the Cornish Seal Sanctuary.

ANIMALS

Amazing Video of Unseen Ocean Creatures in the Ningaloo Canyons

The Schmidt Ocean Institute recently explored the Ningaloo Canyons on the western coast of Australia using a robotic underwater vehicle called the ROV Sebastian. Check out the amazing video of what they discovered in the deep parts of the Indian Ocean.

More info: Youtube

ANIMALS

These Pics Are Art and the Artists Are Insects

Flying insects move so quickly that they are hard to follow, but new technology and some smart ideas have helped Spanish photographer Xavi Bou do just that. After spending 10 years focusing on birds in flight for his Ornithographies project, he turned his attention to insects.

For Entomographies, he uses high-speed video footage taken by Adrian Smith, an insect expert at North Carolina State University, to study and record how insects move. Bou then picks multiple frames and combines them into single images that show the fast movements of one or more insects through space and time.

With Smith’s help, Bou has captured the aerial tricks of wasps, the jumps of leafhoppers, and the fluttering of butterflies in amazing detail. He hopes that by doing this, he can make people more aware of the decline in important insect populations around the world.

1. Zebra longwing

This butterfly, which is common in many areas of the Americas, really fits its name. It can fly very high with just a few flaps of its large wings.