The selkies are gentle creatures who are seals by day, but, men and women by night. They are also called water kelpies, seal people or selchies.

In their mortal form the selkies are described as possessing an unearthly beauty with dark hair and eyes. Silently they emerge from the sea to shed their skins and frolic on the sand.

Like the merrows they have webs between their fingers and toes and must obey anyone who secures their oily skins.

Selkies, also, make excellent wives. But they are solitary and quiet by nature. They will frequently wander from their mortal homes to the sea cliffs to meditate and sing their melancholy songs. When their fishermen-husbands are lost upon the sea, they sing from the cliffs to guide them home.

The selkie will not forget her husband and children and can be seen swimming close to the shore watching over them.