The literal translation of the Latin word Pinniped is fin-footed, and represents a group of marine mammals most generally referred to as seals. Pinnipeds actually comprise three distinct families of animals; Odobenidae the walrus, Phocidae the earless or 'true' seals, and Otariidae the eared seals. Well known examples of Phocidae include behemoths like the elephant seal and the curious harbor seal. True seals lack the ability to rotate their hind flippers, and thus move around on land by undulating their bodies. Looking at this hairy specimen above, you can see two stubby ear flaps on either side of the head, which tells you this northern fur seal is a type of Otariidae. Members of the eared seal family do have the ability to walk on all four flippers, allowing them to climb up steep inclines while hauling out. Along with a generous layer of insulating fat, northern fur seals also contain a very dense fur coat of roughly 46 thousand hairs per centimeter squared. That dense pelage was the sole motivation by Russian fur traders for finding the Pribilof Islands, and is the reason St. Paul Island is inhabited today.
Canon EOS 60D, Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM + 1.4x, ISO-640 f/5.6 @ 1/400 sec.
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