June 30 (UPI) — Experts at a California state park said a seal spotted with a mysterious purple hue got its unusual coloration from algae.
The elephant seal was seen recently at Año Nuevo State Park’s Bight Beach with a coloration that park officials said looked “like it took a bath in grape juice.”
Park officials said theories about the cause of the seal’s unusual hue included a diet of purple sea urchins and possible internal bleeding, but seal experts revealed the true cause was algae.
“Resting on red algae on the beach has given this seal it’s striking appearance, just in time for summer,” officials wrote on Instagram.