Amelia has always shown a lot of interest in a particular orange boomer ball toy that we stuff with fish. Now we have decided to take it one step further by making a puzzle for her. So she can learn how it works we started with an easy one.



We modified two clear, small animal exercise balls by drilling holes in them, then placed some capelin pieces in the big ball and gave it to the seals. Since it looked a little different from the original toy, it took Amelia a little bit to figure out what it was, but once she did she was really into it. And she wasn't the only one; Trumpet, Chuck, Cayenne, and Smoke all took turns. Now the next step is to start placing the fish inside the little ball and put that inside the big ball- then they will really have to move the toy to get the fish out.

-Erin

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Happy Birthday!

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One of the most popular questions the trainers hear is "How do you tell the harbor seals apart?" The answer sounds simple; just by looking at them, but it can take a long time if you don't see the seals every day.

Enrichment is a big part of what we do every day to make sure the animals are stimulated in their environment. Ice toys or"fishicles" are one of their favorites. Here's a "seal's eye view" of Chuck (Chacoda) playing with an ice toy during a "Play With the Seals" program. Our program participant is standing on the rocks above and is using the other end of the blue car wash strip to drag the toy through the water to entice Chuck though he doesn't look like he needs much enticing!



It looks like he has it all to himself too until Mom (Trumpet) comes over to check it out.

- Paul

Not only does it look like Trumpet and Cayenne are looking at their reflections, but this mother and daughter pair strike the same pose!

Rochelle and I were the only two trainers on last week. With seven seals to feed you might think it would be difficult, but this is where those name targets come in handy. Each of us did two sessions with five seals at a time, which allowed the other trainer to focus on two. It was enriching for both us and the seals; you will notice that Rochelle and I didn't always feed the same animals or even line them up in the same order, but by using those name targets we were able to keep the five seals together calmly and give everyone the attention they deserved.


Here is Rochelle with (starting from the top) Trumpet, Lana, Smoke, Reggae, and Amelia.
Can you find all five targets?


In this picture I am working with (from the top) Cayenne, Chuck, Smoke, Reggae, and Lana. With the other four seals focusing on their name targets I am able to give Smoke some of her daily eye drops.

I wonder what today will bring?

-Erin

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We have recently started free swims with the Atlantic harbor seals. What exactly is a free swim you ask? For us, it is any time a person is in the water with the seals outside of a training session or cleaning dive. We consider free swims to be a type of enrichment for the seals (and of course the trainers). Since it is very new and we want the seals to be comfortable with us hanging out in the exhibit, we will start by going in for short periods of time, taking a break, then going back in.



In this video, you can see Rochelle doing one of the first free swims with the seals. In her first short swim, Amelia comes right over to check her out. In the second swim, Rochelle has picked up a toy to see if anyone is interested and Chuck swims by while Cayenne checks her out from a distance (look at the top left corner). In the third swim, Trumpet checks her out from a distance. I wonder if they will come any closer?...Check back to see!

- Erin

Campers feeding Myrtle the green sea turtle.


Feeling Reggae's belly.

Observing seals having their teeth brushed.

How do harbor seals sleep? How long can they hold their breath? The answers to these spine-tingling questions are the subject of today's marine mammal trainer's blog. Let's start with how the seals sleep.

In the photo you see Trumpet sleeping upside down while her hind flippers stick up like rabbit ears. This is not a common sleeping posture, but Trumpet must be on to something since her daughter Cayenne occasionally sleeps "flippers up" too.

Sleeping on the bottom of the exhibit are Reggae, in the foreground, and Cayenne against the wall in the back. Harbor seals can hold their breath for 20 minutes. As the seals sleep deeply, they just bob or roll a little in the wake of other seals swimming by. Alarmed visitors often go to the information desk to report in a whisper, "There is a dead seal in the exhibit. Just thought you should know." While the visitor is conscientiously reporting their findings to the staff, the sleeping seal rises to the surface for a couple of quick breaths before sinking slowly back to the bottom. This cycle can repeat itself for hours.

Now why would we clip a harbor seal's nails? It's not as if they have spas out in the ocean right? Seals naturally wear down their nails by scrabbling up onto the rocky shores along the coast. Here at the Aquarium they have much smoother surfaces that don't wear their nails down. This video is an example of an ongoing process to clip Trumpet's nails. She was very relaxed and easygoing about getting her nails done today but this is not always the case. Nail clipping is an example of a husbandry, or medical behavior, that we trainers continuously keep up so it can be an easy process. Just like the saying goes, "Practice makes perfect!"

-Rochelle

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