Selkies
From DirtyWiki
Irish people tend to know what they're talking about when they document strange creatures. Maybe it's because without Romans sticking their noses in everything, they only had to deal with Vikings and Scandinavians know their shit, too.
But they don't necessarily know everything, and the legend of the selkie is no different.
There are perhaps dozens of versions, most of them somehow having to do with pining men who capture a human bride from the sea. Unfortunately, those are merely legends, never fact, and selkies are as far from therianthropes as any animal creature could be.
The first major difference is that selkies prefer their animal form and can go an entire lifetime without ever being human. In time, they may stop transforming into humans at all, as their humanoid form already lacks speech and any emotional connection to humanity on earth.
That isn't to say that one won't live as a human for long periods of time, but they see the world in black and white. You can't teach them to change this behavior, either, as it is inherent. They can understand simple speech, of course, but will not be fluent in any human language and will, again, never be able to speak. Selkies have a language of their own under water and a sign language on land that only selkies would respond to with any understanding.
But there are few selkies on land. Few selkies in the world at all. Most inhabit the coasts of the Northern Hemisphere and prefer colder or milder climates to warmer ones. They do not live everywhere seals do.
In human form, they vary widely but are more often seen with darker hair and darker eyes. Their eyes have incredibly dark irises and large pupils, making them look rather inhuman. But the females are oddly attractive. However, you would be better off letting them remain as seals unless one comes to you. But they prefer to be alone or with other selkies while on land. Land is just an extension of their territory and easier to manage while human.
They can breed as humans or as selkies, but cannot breed with humans.
