'Milk chocolate' to 'slate grey' : Colour changes during a moult

As the end of the moulting season approaches, I've been able to photograph one seal as it has gone through its moult. S79 is a well marked male seal. As you can see from the photos below at the end of February, the seal's fur was light brown, presumably as the old fur coat began to die. By the third week of March, some of the old, now dark brown fur had been lost, especially around his head and fore flippers. At the start of April, most of the old fur had been moulted leaving new dark grey fur and pristine markings. The process of moulting has taken roughly 5 weeks for this seal.

Light brown fur 26/02/05 (left) : Dark brown fur 20/03/05 (Middle) : New dark grey fur 03/04/05 (Far right.)