What's the best way for a Northern fur seal to celebrate his sweet 16?  An icey fish cake, of course!  Check out how happy Baranov looks as he devoures his delicious treat:

 The birthday boy!


 Delicious!  It didn't take long for him to chow down.

 He even shared with his sister, Cordova.

The birthday boy and what's left of the cake.

Happy Fitness Friday, all! While our visitors get good looks at our adult Northern fur seals stretching and speed swimming in the New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center, the youngest member of the Aquarium's pinniped family is still getting big and strong behind the scenes. He'll be joining adult swim very soon. Until then, we thought you'd like to see him in action.

Leu is perfecting his porpoising skills in this clip. Notice how his stamina appears to have improved since we put this post!



Keep watching the Trainers Blog for our special new series of posts we're calling What's New with Leu. Just like human babies, this little guy is learning new skills every day and cultivating quite a charming personality. Stay tuned!

As we've mentioned in many a Fitness Friday post, exercise can come in many shapes and sizes. Leu the tiny fur seal pup gets some exercise playing with his trainers. And Isaac the hulking male fur seal does a little strength training with his front flipper stands.

Today we wanted to point out that our harbor seals and fur seals and sea lions can sometimes get their exercise interacting with the public through the glass! Here you see Cordova, one of our female fur seals leaning against the wall. It takes a lot of strength to hold themselves up there like that!

When the mood strikes them, those whacky sea lions do the same. These two especially like inspecting the colorful stuffed animals held by some of our younger visitors. Many visitors have also enjoyed playing follow the leader with our harbor seals while they bend and bob in their exhibit on the front plaza.

So the next time you visit, you might be lucky to get up close and personal (through the glass) with one of these amazing marine mammals. Take a moment to think about this nifty show of strength and agility in our marine mammals!

By now you've probably heard about our new baby fur seal. He was rescued several months ago from a California beach, underweight, blind in one eye with a patchy coat of fur that couldn't keep him warm. After a fun and successful naming contest, this little guy was named Leu for the Aleutian Islands off Alaska, where Northern fur seals are found in the wild.


Leu has been charming and delighting the marine mammal trainers behind the scenes as he settles into life at the Aquarium. [Learn how the sea lions settled when they first at the Aquarium here.] He has been eating well and is getting stronger stronger every day. In fact, he's even found time to play! Play is a a great way to get your muscles moving and have fun in the process. Just look, little Leu is getting a really fun work out!



Leu is still behind the scenes for his routine quarantine period, but you'll be able to meet him and watch him play this summer. In the meantime, you can definitely watch our young California sea lions frisking about the New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center. They love to play in a spray of water, juggle a soccer ball, slip and slide and practice new skills.