Remember a couple of weeks ago when we showed one of our Northern fur seals learning a few steps of a dance? Well, since then Roxie has added some more steps to her repertoire. And she's been sashaying all around the New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center, practicing her routine. Check out the video below to see how Roxie's dance is developing. Soon the trainers might decide she's ready for some music!

Leu, our rescued Northern fur seal, loves to zip around the New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center playing with his friend Flaherty. But as you can see from the video below, young Leu has always been up for playing with whatever is handy.

Northern fur seals are natural athletes—lithe, graceful and flexible—so they have an advantage when they're learning a dance routine. But the fur seals need to learn movements step by step, just like dancers do. Whenever the trainers teach the seals or sea lions a new behavior, they don't ask for the entire behavior all at once. They work with the animal on a small segment of the behavior, reinforcing each correct move with fish, until the seal is comfortable with the movement, then they add another segment. In this video, a trainer is teaching Roxie a series of movements that will eventually be part of a dance sequence with music!

It's always more fun to get your exercise with friends than by yourself. At least our Northern fur seal pups, Leu and Flaherty, seem to feel that way. In the video below, you can see the two youngsters playing a kind of king of the hill game in the New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center, with Flaherty on deck and Leu in the water. The two are pushing and shoving much like seals and sea lions do in the wild.

In this video, Flaherty is trying to defend the high ground of the deck. See what happens and who ends up being king of the deck.



As you can see, this jousting involves open-mouth playful grabs and lunges. You could say it's the seal version of arm wrestling and probably helps them learn how to protect themselves and their territory. You can also see who gets the last laugh—Isaac!

Leu and Flaherty play in the water and on land

If you've visited the New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center recently, you've seen Leu, our young rescued fur seal, porpoising through the water with fluid grace, frolicking on the rocks and sending balls zipping across the deck with a quick flick of his flipper. Leu definitely has some moves!

But Leu didn't come to the Aquarium with his fancy flipper work. As you can see in this video, Kathy is working patiently with Leu to develop those skills. And like most of us, Leu had to do a lot of practicing before he started looking like he could take the field with the Revolution.