I am fascinated by the local newspaper coverage of an elephant seal which
has given birth on a beach near Hobart, Tasmania - first time for over a
century, although it used to be quite common before they over-hunted. Now
they are protected, but breed only on the Antarctic islands. We have been
getting daily accounts in the paper about seal lactation, the high quality
of her milk, and the importance of the pup feeding on its mother's milk
without being disturbed or interfered with. They have erected a hessian
barricade to keep the public at a distance.

The photo in today's paper shows a letdown - a stream of milk coming from a
pore on her belly while the pup nuzzles close by. Apparently they only feed
for 3 weeks, while mother lies about on the beach, neither eating or
drinking, and gets pretty run down. The pup feeds virtually non-stop and
stacks on weight (the headline today referred to it as a little feeding
machine - yukk). Then mother seal is off and the pup has to learn to fend
for itself.

Oh that our human mothers got such support from the press and the public.
How novel to have a baby that feeds virtually non stop! And a mother with
high quality milk! Perhaps lactating mothers would get somewhere if they
claimed to be an endangered species?

Ros Escott
Tasmania, Australia

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