When a bright purple elephant seal turned up on a Northern California beach this year, the internet feared the worst. The truth was far less dramatic.
According to California State Parks, the female seal had hauled out at Bight Beach, in the Ano Nuevo reserve on the San Mateo County coast, when she turned the color of grape Kool-Aid. Online, people speculated that she had eaten sea urchins, was bleeding internally, or had become some kind of marine medical mystery.
Park experts offered a plainer answer: red algae had temporarily stained her fur while she rested on the sand. She was perfectly healthy, they said — just molting.
Elephant seals gather at Ano Nuevo by the thousands between April and August to shed old skin and fur. This one picked up some local color. When she slips back into the Pacific, the purple will rinse away.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.
