Quote Originally Posted by gRomoZeka View Post
BTW, the original phrase is weird. I think it'd be more natural to say "у байкальских нерп родился нерпенок" or "у байкальских тюленей родился тюлененок". Otherwise it sounds like a strange natural phenomenon.
Technically, yes. But i think they wanted to avoid tautology and wanted to make it sound more interesting, because the word "нерпёнок" quickly draws attention, it sounds very funny and lovely for a Russian ear, not as interesting as "тюленёнок".