-Rochelle
Marine Mammal Trainers
7/30/08
#33: What's in a Name?
Some may think that "Chainsaw" is an unusual name for a fur seal, much less a female fur seal. The reason behind the moniker is pretty simple though. Chainsaw was a stranded seal, which means she was found on a beach and was unable to take care of herself. In her case she was a very young pup when she was brought in. While being rehabilitated, or nursed back to health, she had the tendency to vocalize or "talk." When she did this she sounded like "a chainsaw revving up" so the nickname stuck. This video will give you a little taste of her vocal abilities:
-Rochelle
-Rochelle
7/24/08
#32: Molting
The air is warm, the sun is bright and the faint (and sometimes not so faint) aroma of sunbathing harbor seals fills the air. Summer is molting season.
The harbor seals will lose their hair soon. No need for Rogaine or Propecia, though. Our seals will replace their lost hair on their own over a couple of weeks. Since the seals rely on their hair to protect their skin they need it to be in good condition, so their coat is replaced once a year.
During this time they tend to spend more time out of the water. We call this "hauling out." Sunbathing promotes more blood flow to the skin and allows for a quick replacement of healthy hair. While they are molting their appetite decreases and they often aren't their usual spunky selves. Growing all new hair is hard work! By the end of August all of our harbor seals will have new glossy coats appropriate for any herbal shampoo commercial.
-Justin
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| Warm and fuzzy |
The harbor seals will lose their hair soon. No need for Rogaine or Propecia, though. Our seals will replace their lost hair on their own over a couple of weeks. Since the seals rely on their hair to protect their skin they need it to be in good condition, so their coat is replaced once a year.
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| Sunbathing beauties |
During this time they tend to spend more time out of the water. We call this "hauling out." Sunbathing promotes more blood flow to the skin and allows for a quick replacement of healthy hair. While they are molting their appetite decreases and they often aren't their usual spunky selves. Growing all new hair is hard work! By the end of August all of our harbor seals will have new glossy coats appropriate for any herbal shampoo commercial.
-Justin
#31: Flipper Stand part 2
[new video coming soon...]
There are many different ways to train a behavior. Often a combination of approaches is good. It depends on how you and the animal you are working with interact and what is comfortable for both. I started training Cordova's flipper stand by asking her to touch her hind end to a target. After many trials and very little movement, I decided to give her something to put her hind end on. This didn't work very well. I should note that a great deal of time had been devoted to her keeping her hind end still for voluntary blood draws and vaccinations. Another idea was to ask her up onto something. Asking her up onto a step worked. I was able to touch her hind end as it came up with the target and reinforce the upward movement, but she still wasn't offering the upward movement to the target without the step. Cordova is an animal who enjoys being touched. I am now actually picking her hind end up trying to get her to brace her front flippers and support her weight up on them.
-Cheryl
There are many different ways to train a behavior. Often a combination of approaches is good. It depends on how you and the animal you are working with interact and what is comfortable for both. I started training Cordova's flipper stand by asking her to touch her hind end to a target. After many trials and very little movement, I decided to give her something to put her hind end on. This didn't work very well. I should note that a great deal of time had been devoted to her keeping her hind end still for voluntary blood draws and vaccinations. Another idea was to ask her up onto something. Asking her up onto a step worked. I was able to touch her hind end as it came up with the target and reinforce the upward movement, but she still wasn't offering the upward movement to the target without the step. Cordova is an animal who enjoys being touched. I am now actually picking her hind end up trying to get her to brace her front flippers and support her weight up on them.
-Cheryl
7/22/08
#30: Voluntary Injection
During the course of the year our harbor seals and fur seals receive several vaccines. Training the seals to accept these injections voluntarily takes time and lots of patience. Watch the video of Amelia receiving her West Nile Virus vaccine and you'll see that the result of all that time and patience is an animal that deals with needles better than most people that I know, myself included.
-Paul
7/17/08
#29: Seal Origins
A lot of people ask us, "how did you get your seals?" This is a great question and allows us to tell the stories and backgrounds of our animals here. Five of the seven harbor seals were born here at the aquarium; Amelia and Trumpet were born in 1985, Reggae and Cayenne in 1993, and Chacoda in 1995. Smoke and Lana came in as stranded pups from the coast of Maine in 1971 and 1982 respectively.Most seals are nursed back to health and released. Sometimes stranded seals have medical issues, such as chronic ear infections, that would reduce their chance of survival after release. Others become too accustomed to people and can get in trouble by approaching people or their pets.
Three of the fur seals, Cordova, Ursula and Baranov were born at other aquariums. Chainsaw was found stranded as a pup off the coast of Washington.
Follow the links on each seal's name to see all the blog entries about each animal.
-Lindsay
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