As you can see, each seals' tongue is shaped a little bit differently. Here are a few of the seals that we have trained or are in the process of training the tongue behavior.
The importance of sticking out their tongues is that it's really cute! It also poses a challenge for the trainer to figure out the best way to train it. You'll be able to see the steps and progress of Lana's tongue behavior coming soon in a future post! I'm not quite sure about the purpose of a forked tongue but I plan on looking it up soon. -Rochelle
We train the Aquarium's Atlantic harbor seals and Northern fur seals for enrichment and to build a trusting relationship that allows for regular medical checkups. Read our posts to learn about what's new with the animals and how we train behaviors.
Just wanted to ask -- why is it important to have them stick out their tongues? Is it so you can visually check some aspect of health?
ReplyDelete(I'm intrigued that they have sort-of forked tongues -- is there a reason for that?)
Thanks!
The importance of sticking out their tongues is that it's really cute! It also poses a challenge for the trainer to figure out the best way to train it. You'll be able to see the steps and progress of Lana's tongue behavior coming soon in a future post!
ReplyDeleteI'm not quite sure about the purpose of a forked tongue but I plan on looking it up soon.
-Rochelle