Harbor Seal Whisker Update

A few months ago, I published a post about how Harbor Seals use their vibrasse (whiskers) to find delicious and nutritious fibsh.  One of the things that I read about Harbor Seal vibrasse was that they are wavy.  After looking over photos from a recent trip to the Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut, I noticed that in one of the photos you can see the wavyness of their vibrasse:

Closeup of a Harbor Seal's wavy vibrasse, with arrows pointing to some of the more noticeable wavy whiskers.


Original photo of a Harbor Seal snooter.


From my post linked to above, showing different pinniped vibrasse samples.  Note that the Harbor Seal vibrasse are wavy.


I am not sure exactly why the vibrasse are wavy.  I have read that the wavyness may help Harbor Seals find fibsh by reducing unnecessary vibrations while they swim through the water.  I have also read that this has not yet been totally proven.


Perhaps I should ask Harry the Harbor Seal

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