Labels: Erin, isaac, Northern Fur Seal

Did you know that to stay healthy, a lot of people are doing some of the same behaviors that our fur seals do? That's right. Stop in to any local yoga studio and you will see people doing poses that look a lot like what Cordova and Ursula do on a daily basis.

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Labels: Erin, Northern Fur Seal, yoga

Labels: JD, Northern Fur Seal, Rochelle

Baranov is back! Last time he was at the Aquarium, he enjoyed doing his impression of a fur seal monorail on the previous exhibit's bridge. Now he's back and he has a much larger, brand new space to explore in the New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center.


Baranov arriving at the New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center (left) and in his previous home at the Mystic Aquarium (right).

So how do you transport a Northern fur seal that weighs between 400 and 500 pounds? A simple dolly isn't enough... the team used a forklift. Here's a photo slide show of the move. Press play to get it started!

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Labels: Baranov, New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center, Northern Fur Seal, transport

Ursula the Northern fur seal likes to slide on the ramp down to the holding room pool! She will slide during, after and in between training sessions.

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Labels: Lindsay, Northern Fur Seal, ramp, Ursula, Video

Today the Aquarium's brand new New Balance Marine Mammal Center opens to the public! The seals are doing great in their new space and it will be fun to see their reaction to visitors coming to see them. Cordova, in particular, likes to follow people as they walk past the shallow wading pool. Here are some photos of the new space:





The new center has been getting a lot of attention in the press. The seals have been spreading the word all over TV and radio. We already posted a great video from NECN. Here's a clip from WBZ.com's Radiovision. This photo of Justin was in the Metro yesterday.

Plus, this story about the New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center's fitness mission and the Move It! theme program appeared in the Associated Press and was picked up in many other sources. Come on down to the Aquarium and see the seals in their new space!

Here's a photo slide show of the new space!

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Labels: Cordova, New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center, Northern Fur Seal

Labels: Cordova, JD, New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center, Northern Fur Seal, Rochelle, Ursula

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Labels: Baranov, Erin, Justin, Marine Mammal Exhibit, Mystic Aquarium, New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center, Northern Fur Seal

So, it hasn't been all fun and games down here. (Well that's a lie - with a job like this it's always fun). But seriously, while we have been getting the girls acclimated, we have also been introducing them to the trainers at the New York Aquarium (NYAq).

Since the fur seals will be in New York for about 1 year while their exhibit is under construction, the trainers at the NYAq will need to know everything about them. So during every training session, the trainers at NYAq accompany us, get to know the girls and learn their behaviors. Here you can see Belinda introducing Jaclyn to Ursula.

We are happy to say that this last week has been great and we are really happy with how the girls have settled in. Now that we spent some time in NY, it's time to see what has been going on back in Boston. See you there.

- Erin

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Labels: Erin, New York Aquarium, Northern Fur Seal, Ursula

Just because the girls are somewhere new, doesn't mean they don't get to enjoy the luxuries of home. While we are sure they will enjoy all of the great enrichment items NYAq has to offer, we brought a few of their favorite toys with them to help in the transition. Those items include a boomer ball, some car wash strips, a few rubber chew toys, and a few molds to make some fish-icles with.

Here, Chainsaw is checking out some fish-icles that Belinda has made. Yum!



That wasn't the only thing she checked out!




- Erin

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Labels: Chainsaw, enrichment, Erin, New York Aquarium, Northern Fur Seal

Labels: Erin, New York Aquarium, Northern Fur Seal, transport, Video

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Labels: Chainsaw, Husbandry behavior, Northern Fur Seal, Rochelle, Video

Labels: Baranov, Justin, Mystic Aquarium, Northern Fur Seal, transport

Very soon we will be on the road to the New York Aquarium (NYAq). Before that happens, I wanted to give you an idea of what is really involved with moving the fur seals. I think you will be surprised to find it is very similar to how human beings travel.

So, while Belinda does some homework on our destination, I will tell you what we need before we go:

• Travel Papers. Similar to how we need passports to travel, we need to get government documents stating that the fur seals can travel from one aquarium to another.
  
  
• Insurance. Just like you (or your parents) carry medical insurance cards in case you have to see the doctor while you are gone, we have sent all of the fur seals' medical information to NYAq. That way the veterinary staff will know their history (like your doctor does) and can take the best possible care of them while they are there.

• Travel Books. Some people like to bring travel books so that they can learn about their destination. What to see, where to eat, and what historical sites to see. The fur seals will also be traveling with books, but these books are for the trainers at the NYAq. They will help the trainers learn about these specific fur seals--what they know, what they eat, what they have done in the past
  
  
• Transportation. How are you going to get there? When you are traveling, you want to get to your final destination as quickly as possible, but you also want to be practical. Lets face it, you are going to have some luggage. So if you are traveling nearby, you drive; if traveling far away, you fly. Same thing for fur seals. Since we are only going a few hours away, we will be driving down. But we will not be taking the family minivan - we have a truck. A big one. It's nice.
  


• Luggage. What do you need to make your trip enjoyable? Our girls are packing the following: ice, ice, ice, and...oh yeah...ice. They like to travel cold. Brrr! They are also packing a few things which will help the trainers know more about them.
  

• Travel Buddies. While you may travel by yourself, our fur seals do not. In addition to the three fur seals, there are seven people taking the trip. While each one has a specific role to play, everyone will be working to make sure the seals have a safe transport and a smooth transition to their new home.
  


• Security. No trip is complete without the security check. Cordova, you are good to go!
  

So I think we are set. See you in New York!!
-Erin

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Labels: Bill, Chainsaw, Cordova, Dr. Charlie, Erin, National Marine Fisheries Service, Northern Fur Seal, transport, Ursula

By this time next week, the fur seals will no longer be at the New England Aquarium...for a little while at least. Construction for the New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center is set to start soon with the hopes that it will be open for next summer. So in the meantime, the fur seals will head out of town. Baranov, our temporary summer resident, will be returning to the Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration, while the females, Chainsaw, Cordova, and Ursula will head to the New York Aquarium. While we will all miss them, we are looking forward to working with them again in the new exhibit. Stay tuned - we will be posting blogs on what it takes to move these seals. And for those of you who haven't been in to see the seals recently, buy your tickets now. See you soon!

Erin

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Labels: Baranov, Chainsaw, Cordova, Erin, Marine Mammal Exhibit, Northern Fur Seal, transport, Ursula

Labels: behind the scenes, Chainsaw, cleaning, Cordova, Jenny, Northern Fur Seal, Patty

[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

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Labels: Cheryl, Cordova, Flipper stand, Northern Fur Seal, training, Video

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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Labels: Harbor Seals, Lindsay, Northern Fur Seal, protected, wild

As we welcomed our newest addition, Baranov, to the northern fur seal exhibit, the size difference between male and female fur seals became VERY obvious. Male fur seals can reach a top weight of 600 pounds while females only weigh a maximum of 120. Check out the video to see the size difference for yourself. Baranov and Cordova have the same father so they are half siblings and the two seals are almost the same age. They certainly don't look like it!



Male fur seals have a thick layer of blubber underneath their skin. During the breeding season the males establish a territory on land so that they can attract females for breeding. Like the females, male fur seals rely on their thick coat of fur to stay warm. Unlike female fur seals, the males have thick blubber as a means of protection when other males challenge them for land space. The blubber also serves as a food source for the males when they are protecting their territory and are unable to go to the ocean to find food.

~Patty

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Labels: Baranov, Cordova, Northern Fur Seal, Patty, Video

A few weeks ago, you got a taste (so to speak) of the diets that we feed our seals at the Aquarium. But how do we prepare it all and how do we figure out how much food each animal needs? Here's how, young grasshoppers.

Each morning we arrive early, prepared to get down and dirty in sinks full of frozen fish and squid. All of the fish needs to be thawed in cold water. In the summertime it feels good being up to your elbows in frigid fishy water, in the winter you're lucky if you can feel your hands. After everything is thawed, each individual fish and squid gets inspected to insure the highest quality. If there are any cuts, scrapes, exploded eyeballs or other damages, it is considered no good and is not fed to the seals. Only the best for our animals!



Once the fish is thawed we weigh buckets of fish for the seals' training sessions. We have our seafood analyzed and know how many calories are in each pound of the 3 different options (herring, capelin and squid). Our seals typically eat between 2,000 and 6,000 calories per day depending on the animal and the season.



Seals can have food preferences just like people. For example, our oldest seal Smoke enjoys squid, while her son Reggae is not a fan. There are many factors that we take into account when calculating how much food an animal needs. We look at their weight, how much they ate in past years, and how eager they are to participate in training sessions.



It can be difficult to figure out the perfect amounts. There are no points to count, or Valerie Bertinelli to deliver pre-made meals. We don't want them to be too hungry, or on the flip side, too full that they would rather use their food as a toy than eat it.

By the end of our morning fish prep, we are well on our way to smelling like a fish and the animals are getting excited about their first training sessions. Bon appetit!

-Justin

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Labels: capelin, diets, fish prep, food, Harbor Seals, herring, Justin, Northern Fur Seal, Reggae, Smoke, squid

This is one of the commonly asked questions here at the New England Aquarium and I am here to answer it for all of you who, I know, are just dying to know. And the answer is ... DRUMROLL PLEASE .................. NOTHING!

But my blog cannot and will not end with such a vague answer!

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Labels: Chacoda, comparison, Guthrie, Harbor Seals, Lindsay, Northern Fur Seal, Sea Lions

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Labels: Chainsaw, Husbandry behavior, Northern Fur Seal, Paul, Video

Training a seal to kiss is fun and begins with "targeting." Targeting is asking a seal to touch a particular part of their body to an object. The object chosen can even be somebody's cheek! In this video you will see Ursula, a female Northern fur seal, giving smooches to Jamie, Jenny and YOU!

-Belinda

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Labels: Belinda, kiss, Northern Fur Seal, targeting, Ursula, Video

Labels: Cheryl, Cordova, Flipper stand, Northern Fur Seal, training, Video

What do the seals eat? It is a great question and one that gets asked a lot. At the NEAq, all of our seals are offered a combination of three foods, pictured above: herring (top), capelin (middle), and squid (bottom). Our fur seals eat mostly squid, with a little herring and capelin, while our harbor seals are the opposite; they eat mostly herring and capelin with a little squid. Regardless of their preferences, it takes a lot of food to keep our seals healthy. We are currently thawing approximately 80 lbs. of food every day!

-Erin

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Labels: diets, Erin, Harbor Seals, Northern Fur Seal

Let's see those pearly whites...or yellows, or blacks! Teeth. That is the word of the day. Here you can see three sets of teeth; Atlantic harbor seal teeth, Lindsay's teeth, and northern fur seal teeth. Can you guess which set of chompers belong to whom?





All seals have teeth, and they all vary from species to species. Humans have 32 teeth, pinnipeds (the scientific name for seals, sea lions and walrus) have an average of 34 to 38 . The seals' teeth are very sharp--even the molars! The reason that the molars aren't flat is because they don't chew their food like we do. They use those pointy teeth to grasp and shred fish that are too big to swallow whole.

Since seals can develop plaque build-up and gum disease just like people, we have trained all the harbor seals, and most of the fur seals, to allow us to brush their teeth. This is a very important husbandry behavior that we maintain every day. Be sure to check back for a blog on that in the near future!

-Lindsay

(p.s. #1 is a harbor seal named Reggae, #2 is a northern fur seal named Ursula and #3 is me!)

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Labels: Harbor Seals, Lindsay, Northern Fur Seal, Reggae, teeth, Ursula

Northern fur seals have one of the densest fur coats in the world. There are up to 300,000 hairs per square inch on their bodies. Here are two pictures of the same fur seal, Chainsaw, when she is dry and wet. They look incredibly different sometimes. When they are dry they are so soft and fuzzy, when wet they're smooth and sleek.

-Justin

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Labels: Chainsaw, Justin, Northern Fur Seal

Labels: Harbor Seals, health, Northern Fur Seal, Paul, training

Check out this very cool fur seal behavior. It is called jug handling and provides fur seals with a method of regulating their body temperature. The seals have many veins running through their flippers and these veins contain a heated blood supply. By tucking their flippers together, like the above pictures, the seals keep the heat from rapidly leaving their flippers. By stretching their flippers out, into the air, they release heat at a faster pace. In addition to the importance of this behavior, it's also a lot of fun to watch!

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Labels: behavior, jug handling, Northern Fur Seal, Patty, warmth