3/30/12

Fitness Friday: Jogging with Cordova

After a productive training session, our seals want to keep the fun going. In today's Fitness Friday video, Erin and Cordova play some follow the leader, and as you can see, it's a bit of a workout for all involved!



Now it's your turn!

3/23/12

Fitness Friday: Sea lion soccer

Here's a question: If you don't have hands, can you still commit a hand ball when you're playing soccer? No way, everything goes at the New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center! And Zoe, the California sea lion, certainly had a blast playing with a soccer ball the other day. Watch her toss, splash and shove the ball all around the exhibit.



It's almost like Zoe was practicing her throw ins, dribbling and passing. This girl knows how to move! Playing games outside is a great way to get exercise, even if you have to kick the soccer ball by yourself.



And here's an interesting tid-bit: If you watched the whole video, you probably heard Baranov, one of the male fur seals, whickering in the background. Males tend to whicker when defending territory or when courting female fur seals during breeding season.

Always something to learn on the Trainers Blog!

3/16/12

Fitness Friday: Taking a stroll with Sierra

Sierra is been perfecting some pretty amazing skills. We've seen her spin, dance and loaf around with her pal, Zoe. The trainers are constantly looking for new ways to keep these California sea lions active, in both mind and body.

In today's Fitness Friday post you can see a new activity that Sierra is working on: taking a stroll in a new part of the New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center.



This is not something that happens every day. Sierra can explore a new space a bit, and stretch her flippers some. You can see that we put up temporary stanchions to keep visitors at a safe distance, we didn't want to make our young explorer nervous! Erin, her trainer, was sure to reward Sierra for her bravery with lots of pieces of fish. Sierra did great during her quick little jaunt!


Whether you're a human or a sea lion, taking a walk with friends or family is, in fact, a great way to get moving. Try it yourself!

3/9/12

Fitness Friday: Hitting the Climbing Wall

Each New Balance Foundation Fitness Friday, we take a look at the ways animals at the New England Aquarium keep moving. Staying active is an important part of staying healthy, after all, and that applies to people and animals! So when we noticed one of our frogs showing off some of its skills on the climbing wall of its terrarium, we just had to share.



Have you ever tried climbing at a climbing gym? It's hard work, isn't it? Consider this a little inspiration to get active this weekend.


 Climbing wall (Photo: Romary via Wikimedia Commons)

And if you think a rock-climbing frog is cool, you must check out these other popular Fitness Friday posts with the seals and sea lions!

See Sierra, the California sea lion, spin
Now watch Sierra's new dance movies
Can harbor seals cut a rug?

Chacoda, the harbor seals, does crunches
Learn something about seal locomotion
Kick, spin and shake with Isaac
 

3/2/12

Fitness Friday: See Sierra Spin

The California sea lions are eager learners, and they're picking up new skills regularly. Both Zoe and Sierra get some extra attention behind the scenes so they can work closely with their trainers. In this video, you can hear Zoe and her trainer working while Sierra perfects her belly spin. She's getting pretty good at it!



What do you think? Does that look like break dancing or what? In fact, dancing can be a good way to stay active. The harbor seals have already shown us how they can do some line dancing. Now get those toes a-tapping, it's almost the weekend after all!

Sierra wowing visitors in the New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center