Adorable young Northern Fur Seal is curious about researchers

The Farallon Islands are a National Wildlife Refuge, closed to the public; the only people on the island are conducting research or maintenance. That means that animals are free to be wild and not worry about humans.

The islands are home to five species of Pinnipeds: Harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina), Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga angustirostris), California Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus), Steller Sea Lion (Eumetopias jubatus), and Northern Fur Seal (Callorhinus ursinus).

Even researchers must be careful when walking around, avoiding animal disturbance. This adorable fur seal pup was spotted during a survey and was more curious than afraid of us. How cute is that?!

Since 1968, Point Blue Conservation Science has been continuously studying the species on the islands, 365 days a year. You can check out their website for more info: https://www.pointblue.org/

This little fella is a Northern Fur Seal (Callorhinus ursinus), but although they have "seal" in the name, Fur Seals are actually more closely related to Sea Lions than to True Seals, belonging to the Otariidae family. Otariids are also known as "eared seals". Not only do they have external ear flaps, unlike true seals (Phocids), but they also have much larger flippers and can actually walk on land, instead of galumphing, like true seals.

There are nine species of Fur Seals in the world: the Antarctic Fur Seal (Arctocephalus gazella), the Brown Fur Seal (Arctocephalus pusillus), the Galapagos Fur Seal (Arctocephalus galapagoensis), the Guadalupe Fur Seal (Arctocephalus townsendi), the Juan Fernández Fur Seal (Arctocephalus philippii), the New Zealand Fur Seal (Arctocephalus forsteri), the South American Fur Seal (Arctocephalus australis), the Subantarctic Fur Seal (Arctocephalus tropicalis), and the Northern Fur Seal (Callorhinus ursinus). As you may have noticed, the Northern Fur Seal is the only extant member of its genus, with all other Fur Seal species belonging to the Arctocephalus genus.

Northern Fur Seals occur only in the north Pacific Ocean. It was listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2015.