The Selkie

the selkie is a "mythological" creature in scottish and irish folklore (though they are also seen in some norse folklore too) who are capable of therianthropy.

therianthropy in this case, means becoming a seal or a human after shedding their skin

in the waters, selkies take on the form of a seal. on land however, they shed their skin and take on a human form. in myths, when one would find the skin of a selkie, you could coerce them into a relationship to "get it back", though the captors would just hide them. once the selkie found their skin, they would immediately return to the sea. in these myths, you found the women being forced into these marriages. when they would free themselves, they would not only abandon their husbands, but their children too. these children would sometimes see a large seal who would cry plaintively at them. male selkies, like the women, were described as very beautiful. however, unlike females, they could create storms to shipwreck humans. it was believed they would do this as a response to humans hunting seals.