Some people still have to work on major holidays, but it can still be a really fun day if you're a seal trainer!  Even though the aquarium is closed to the public, the animals still need to be taken care of.
Starting bright and early, we clean and prep all the seals' diets for the day. 

Some have a tough time adjusting to the earlier than usual schedule... wakie wakie, Commander!

On Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, we operate on a shorter than usual staff and are so thankful for the dedicated volunteers who offer to come in and help us out. A HUGE thank you to those guys for helping our day run smooth. In fact, the day was so seamless, we were able to do some major holiday enrichment...



As you can see, we really went all out. For the health of the animals, we are always very careful about what we provide for the seals and sea lions during these enrichment activities. So we picked out a sampling of the seals' favorites (ice chips, jello, fish, squid and toys, to name a few!) and made a cornucopia for the fur seals, harbor seals and sea lions!

Thanksgiving staff: Marie, Vanessa, Lindsay

Superstar volunteers: Kyle B, Kyle D, Marissa

Zoe gets her nose in the toys in the marine mammal center

• Thanksgiving with the seals always involves fun toys!
• What is a flurkey? The trainers explain
• It's business as usual in the Penguin Exhibit on Thanksgiving
• While the animals digested their feast, the divers got to have a little fete of their own 
• This big gal always gets a Thanksgiving feast

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

There are many traditions that go along with Thanksgiving. Some people have specific dishes they prepare each year, and others have specific activities or travel destinations. Last Thanksgiving, the seals received a fish feast!

The 2012 Thanksgiving feast—what's in store this year?

I’m sure many of you remember hand turkeys—tracing your own hand and coloring in the fingers. Hopefully more than a few of you made your own this year—everyone in the mammals department sure did! (Check back this Thursday to see a picture of all the hand turkeys the trainers and volunteers made!).

Here in the mammals department, we put a unique fishy spin on the idea: Flurkeys! Atlantic harbor seals do not have hands, but they have flippers! With the help from one of the trainers and some non-toxic water-based paint, Reggae, an Atlantic harbor seal here at NEAQ, made his own Flipper-Turkey: a FLURKEY!

 See how his flurkey measures up to a hand turkey.
Thanksgiving is also a time to remember everything we are thankful for. We are thankful for our amazing animals and for all of our visitors (first timers and returnees) who we get to share the aquarium experience with everyday.  Thank you!!!

 Happy Flurkey Day everyone! Eat lots and have a wonderful day.

This year, Rochelle and I spent Thanksgiving at the aquarium. We had a lovely day and feasted with our 12 seals; yummm...