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You are here: Home / Colbert Nation / Tagging of Pacific Predators project names elephant seal after Stephen Colbert

Tagging of Pacific Predators project names elephant seal after Stephen Colbert

January 26, 2009 By

Stelephant Colbert - Photo: Melinda Fowler.

Stelephant Colbert - Photo: Melinda Fowler.

First Stephen Colbert had an eagle, a turtle, and a spider named after him. Now another member of the Wild Kingdom has been named after Stephen Colbert – this time, an elephant seal from California. According to the TOPP web site, “Tagging of Pacific Predators began in 2000 as one of 17 projects of the Census of Marine Life, an ambitious 10-year, 80-nation endeavor to assess and explain the diversity and abundance of life in the oceans, and where that life has lived, is living, and will live.” TOPP has named one of the Elephant Seals that they are tracking after Stephen, giving him the title of “Stelephant Colbert”.

Here’s an in-character blog excerpt from TOPP’s web site:

Nation, you may know of my Homo sapiens sapiens colleague Stephen Colbert, BFA. I approve of his words, verbs and prepositions, making me his official Seal of Approval. Stephen is very “name afterable”, and I’d to think that my dad, whoever he may be, was a visionary in the naming process. At 14 feet and 4-6 tons, I’m the original all American muscle car (still waiting on a bail-out) and proud to be part of Stephen’s arc. Continuing his legacy, I generously permitted the TOPP team to place a time-depth recorder, satellite tag and radio tag on my seal (I was jumped when I wasn’t looking). This will allow marine scientists to learn more about the unwelcoming North Pacific, record elephant seal behavior, and track one of the longest migrations in the animal kingdom. Though the TOPP biologists have studied my kind extensively, there are still many mysteries about us, many of which are to be revealed in my tell-all, future New York Times Bestseller I Am A Beachmeister (And No Jon You Cannot).

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Comments

  1. FurElise says:
    January 26, 2009 at 3:28 pm

    “(And No Jon You Cannot)” made me grin.

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  2. Tiger says:
    January 26, 2009 at 3:52 pm

    they messed up and took away his doctorate by accident! however, very cute write-up. Beachmeister, lol.

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  3. jentaps says:
    January 26, 2009 at 5:22 pm

    This made me lol at work. Too funny. Scientists heart Stephen.

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  4. LadyNocturne says:
    January 26, 2009 at 5:33 pm

    Yay! Another addition to the Stephen Colbert Wild Kingdom!

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  5. dustdevil says:
    January 26, 2009 at 5:56 pm

    Just this morning, I was thinking back on the days when I volunteered at Ano Nuevo Park (where they tagged the seal), so this is awesome.

    The whole blog post is chock-full of fun science joke. Stelephant refers to himself as a “Pinniped-American” and the “Jon” is “Jon Sealwart.”

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  6. forsakinghalfloves says:
    January 26, 2009 at 8:11 pm

    CUTEST names EVER! :) I loved the name Stephanie Colburtle the Turtle, and now we have a Stelephant Colbert.

    I love the blog entry! He definitely takes after Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, DFA. :)

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  7. GabbyD says:
    January 27, 2009 at 1:09 am

    very funny writeup!

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