Elkhorn Slough Curious Seal Friend

Those long whiskers are far more than decoration. A harbor seal's vibrissae are among the most sensitive in the animal world, flattened and gently wavy in shape so they resist buzzing against the seal's own movement. That lets the seal read the faint hydrodynamic trail a fish leaves behind, following the disturbed water for many seconds after the fish has passed. In the dark, silt-clouded channels of an estuary like this one, a seal can hunt effectively even when it can barely see.