An elephant seal colored an unusual shade of purple was spotted on a Bay Area beach over the weekend.
The color did not appear to be a result of illness or injury, park officials said, though theories for the seal’s color had included internal bleeding or a diet heavy on purple sea urchins. Experts ultimately determined that red algae had dyed the seal a purple hue on Año Nuevo State Park’s Bight Beach.
Red algae contain natural pigments that scientists have studied for use in dyes and colorants, including in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications.
In this case, the seal appeared to have picked up color from its resting spot.
Elephant seals are coming ashore at the San Mateo beach for molting season, when they shed their outer layer of skin and fur. Visitors can get free passes to watch the seals rest on the beaches during this season, which lasts until the end of August.
The animals are just coming off a bird flu outbreak that infected 57 elephant seals, along with six California sea lions and one southern sea otter. The majority of those infections occurred in San Mateo County, including some at Año Nuevo State Park. The outbreak lasted from February 12 to March 24.