Two seals who fell in love and defied the odds to conceive two pups together had to be separated when concerns for one of the animal's health caused zookeepers to move the other to a different facility. All is not lost, however, as the animals keep their love alive during weekly FaceTime sessions using Apple iPads.
The story of the two seals began back in 2007 when they locked eyes at the Cornish Seal sanctuary in the U.K., where both animals were originally housed. Babyface, who at 37 was almost four times older than his love interest Sija, a female harbor seal, courted her until the two mated. Miraculously, despite Babyface's age and the fact that Sija was on a contraceptive at the time designed to prevent her from getting pregnant, she conceived not once, but twice, and the May-December romance resulted in two pups.
Unfortunately, Babyface's health deteriorated to the point where the two had to be separated, and Sija was moved to an all-female enclosure at Weymouth Sea Life Adventure Park, 160 miles away from her original home, where Babyface remained. Park workers were determined, however, to help the two seals keep their long-distance love alive.
"Sija has settled in really well with the other girls here, but we thought it would be nice for her and Babyface to keep in touch, so we've arranged a video link," explained Fiona Smith, a curator at the park. Now, the two are reunited in a weekly event dubbed "SealTime" by zoo workers, in which they communicate via FaceTime using iPads placed in each animal's enclosure. "At first the seals were both unsure about approaching the iPad, but once they saw each other they nosed up to it, which was really nice to see," says Smith.
As of now, we have no word on whether sanctuary curators are planning to upgrade Babyface and Sija to iPad Pros in time for the holidays.
