Unless you've been hauled up in a bunker somewhere, devoid of all human interaction whilst awaiting the inevitable apocalypse then you are undoubtedly familiar with the concept of gingerism.
It's not uncommon to hear some self-congratulatory bastard shoot down another human being simply because their hair is of a slightly lighter shade than their own.
But whilst we can accept that humans are basically arseholes who will pick up on any trait in the attempt to destroy a fellow humans livelihood, we wouldn't expect the same heartless discrimination from seals.
Seals are adorable little grey slabs of happiness who are content to laze around and fill their faces with fish. But beneath their dopey exterior lies hearts blackened with bigotry. That's what one poor seal discovered when he was shunned from his own colony simply for sporting a ginger coat. His reddish-brown colour is caused by an accumulation of iron in his fur but his peers wouldn't listen, instead out-casting him without a fish to his name.
It wasn't an easy start to life for this little fella either. Born almost completely blind, his mother abandoned her wonky-eyed wonder and left him for dead. His colony then fucked right off leaving him without a snowballs chance in hell of survival. They probably called him a ginger minger too before sticking two flippers up at him and heading on their way.
Luckily photographer Anatoly Strakhov stumbled upon the auburn pup, who was waiting for his mother to come back and feed him. After having his heart broken by the tragic scene, Mr Strakhov rescued the seal and took him to a dolphinarium, where he is currently being looked after.
We can only hope one day this seal can come to terms with the unfair treatment he has had to endure, either that or befriends an enchanted mackerel and together they raise an unholy army of sea to enact their terrible vengeance. On second thought, I'd head back to that bunker if I were you.
Words by Tanya Harris and Ben Gibson
