Reggae the harbor seal recently had a birthday, and the trainers celebrated with a layer "cake" of gelatin and fish. Visitors lucky enough to be by the front plaza exhibit even helped sing him happy birthday!

 

Reggae just turned 23, which is about middle age here at the Aquarium. His mother lived to be 40. Check out some of the other birthday seal-abrations we've had for the harbor and fur seals over the years!

Earlier this year, we followed Chacoda into the water, thanks to his special ability to wear a GoPro harness. The harness fits around his front flippers and a critter cam sits snug on his back. Chuck (as he's affectionately known in these parts) and Paul worked together for some time so this handsome harbor seal could learn to wear the harness while swimming and diving around the exhibit.

Adjusting the camera: Above the water

This skill gives us a special opportunity to see what it's like to effortlessly navigate the habitat in this Front Plaza exhibit and even spring out of the water during a training session! Today's cool video shows us both sides of that story: the traditional above-water perspective of trainers in the exhibit and below the water from Chucky's point of view! Take a look.



Not only does this skill of Chacoda's provide a fun way to explore the exhibit underwater, learning new skills such as wearing a harness is a good way to keep this harbor seal active both mentally and physically. Trainers also teach seals behaviors that can help with their medical care, such as opening their mouths for tooth brushing or presenting a flipper so a vet can examine it or draw blood.

Adjusting the camera: Chacoda's perspective

The harbor seals cruising among the toys in their exhibit

Come by to see the harbor seals in their Front Plaza exhibit. You'll have new appreciation for the agility and abilities of these athletic harbor seals!

Check out these links to learn more about the harbors seals:

• Here's a picture of the previous incarnation of the critter cam—so big!
• Learn the lingo trainers use to teach the seals and sea lions new skills
• Go through the steps that the trainers learn to teach the seals new behaviors
• The harbor seals are the Aquarium's welcoming committee
• Watch Chacoda work out with some crunches
• And see how Chacoda can be a real romantic

Usually when you hear the word "fitness," being physically fit is what comes to mind. Not only is it important for our marine mammals to stay in shape physically, but here at New England Aquarium, it's our job to make sure our furry friends stay in shape mentally as well. How do we do that? One way is through training new behaviors. Our training sessions often give our animals a mental workout by providing them with puzzles to solve.

A great example of a behavior that does this is something we call "innovative" training. Here's how it works. The trainer gives the animal a hand signal that basically means: do whatever you want to do this time. There's only one rule to this fun exercise. In order to get a reward, the animal needs to think of something different to do each time. This is one of my favorite types of training sessions because it shows just how creative these marine mammals can be!

Don't miss this video of Amelia, an Atlantic harbor seal, getting a mental workout!



Our harbor seals aren't the only ones that can be creative. Click the video below to see Isaac, a Northern Fur Seal, stretch his imagination!

Even the harbor seals get in on the activities on Fitness Friday. Reggae here is stretching his flippers with a toy. It looks like he's doing a workout with a medicine ball. Or is he playing tetherball with himself? Ah, you decide, just take a look.


Harbor seals may not gallop about their exhibit like the sea lions and fur seals. With shorter flippers, they get around in a much different way. (Compare the two modes of locomotion on land in this post. They even swim in different ways!)


But that doesn't mean the harbor seals aren't active. See how they can dance in the water, do crunches while on land and spring out of the water for a harbor seal high-five!

We recently celebrated an exciting day at New England Aquarium -- one that is cause for much celebration...it was Lana (the Atlantic harbor seal)'s 30th birthday! To celebrate this occasion we gave her a one of a kind birthday "fish cake," made specially by two of our volunteers, Marie and Marissa.

Fish cake for the birthday girl!

With the 116th Boston Marathon just around the corner, I am always inspired to get out there and start running again. This got me thinking about how the different types of seals at the Aquarium move around on land. Eared seals (all fur seals and sea lions) have adapted to move quickly and easily on land, while true seals, like our harbor seals aren't quite as agile. Why is that?

It all comes down to feet, or in this case, flippers. Fur seals and sea lions have larger flippers and can rotate their back flippers underneath their bodies so they have "four on the floor." Check out Ursula's flippers here.



Other seals have much shorter flippers and their back flippers stay behind them. To move on land they have to move on their bellies, similar to an inchworm.



Now lets see those flippers in action. (Be sure to listen carefully, you can hear Trumpet's belly slapping the ground when she moves!)



We have a few people from the Aquarium running the Marathon on Monday. We wish them and all of the participants the best of luck!

And don't forget, next Friday, April 20, the fur seals will be taking on Team Tiburon in a friendly competition in preparation for the upcoming "Tough Mudder" race. We hope to see you all here at the NEAq cheering on your favorite team. Our next Fitness Friday post will highlight the training techniques used by the seals to prepare, so stay tuned!

Each Friday we try to point out some ways that our harbor seals, fur seals and sea lions stay active. They get moving in all sorts of ways, from jumping in place to practicing flipper stands to slip and sliding. This week the harbor seals are showing off a really fun way to get moving — dancing!



Because the harbor seals' exhibit is basically all viewing windows, it lets visitors of all ages get a good look at our harbor seals in action.





The next time you stop by to peek at our harbor seals on the Aquarium's plaza, see if you can find a dance partner on the other side of the glass!

Our harbor seals can help with a gift for your special someone!



Visit our Gift Shop and get a one of a kind painting done by one of our harbor seals!
(Here's how it's done.)



Looking for a more interactive gift? Sign up for a Meet & Greet program where you and your guest can come behind the scenes and join us for a training session with either our Northern fur seals or Atlantic harbor seals!




Let our seals make your Valentine's Day special!

Chacoda, the Atlantic harbor seal, has been practicing a special skill for a while. What do you think?



It's not unusual to seals at rest in this pose. It's called the banana posture—doesn't it kinda look like a curved banana? — and Chuck has been perfecting this for a while. Now that's a lot of crunches!



Seals in the wild also demonstrate this pose as on the Aquarium's Rescue Team blog.



This wild harbor seal appears to be resting based on the banana posture of its body.

In today's New Balance Foundation Fitness Friday post we take a look at the two different ways that our seals get around in the water. And they can certainly move it! Take a look at this video of Cordova and Reggae doing some speed swimming.



The moral of the story here is that there are lots of ways to be active. So get moving!