Submitted by Lauren Rust, Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network
I got this neat image of KoKo feeding on Friday. If you look closely you can see two mammary slits on either side of her vaginal slit. This is one way to sex an animal from a photograph (it’s just hard to get such a clear shot). (Males typically don’t have mammary slits- although sometimes we’ve ssen “false” mammary slits in males). In each mammary slit is an inverted nipple. When Kai needs to nurse, he’ll nudge the mammary slit with his nose, which causes the nipple to pop out and allows him to grip and nurse. If you look closely, you’ll see what looks like “bulges” slightly closer to her belly and this is her mammaries full of milk since she’s still lactating. How cool is that?
