Monday, August 18, 2008

#37: Summer Camp

Summer Camp Aquarium Style

When I was younger I went to summer camp. From what I remember there were mosquitoes, a really cold lake and raccoons that broke into my tent. There are many more summer camp options these days. This summer we have hosted the Aquarium's Harbor Discoveries Camp for a sneak peek behind the scenes of our exhibits.

Campers feeding Myrtle the green sea turtle.


Feeling Reggae's belly.

Observing seals having their teeth brushed.

This isn't your typical summer camp. Along with the usual smores eatin' and kumbaya-in' that they do on their overnight trips, these kids are also serious thinkers! The groups we hosted focused on animal husbandry and aquarium exhibit design. Along with in-depth discussions about animal care, we also found some time to have a couple of intimate encounters with the seals and Myrtle the green sea turtle.


-Justin

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posted by Justin at 2:22 PM 1 Comments



Tuesday, June 10, 2008

#18: Sleeping Seals

Sunken Harbor Seals

How do harbor seals sleep? How long can they hold their breath? The answers to these spine-tingling questions are the subject of today's marine mammal trainer's blog. Let's start with how the seals sleep.


In the photo you see Trumpet sleeping upside down while her hind flippers stick up like rabbit ears. This is not a common sleeping posture, but Trumpet must be on to something since her daughter Cayenne occasionally sleeps "flippers up" too.

Sleeping on the bottom of the exhibit are Reggae, in the foreground, and Cayenne against the wall in the back. Harbor seals can hold their breath for 20 minutes. As the seals sleep deeply, they just bob or roll a little in the wake of other seals swimming by. Alarmed visitors often go to the information desk to report in a whisper, "There is a dead seal in the exhibit. Just thought you should know." While the visitor is conscientiously reporting their findings to the staff, the sleeping seal rises to the surface for a couple of quick breaths before sinking slowly back to the bottom. This cycle can repeat itself for hours.


Seals can stay out of the water for hours, even days. Below, it's clear that Lana prefers her sleeping area extra firm.


Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

- Jenny

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posted by Jenny at 8:25 AM 2 Comments



Monday, June 2, 2008

#12: Nail Clipping

Trumpet gets her nails done!



Now why would we clip a harbor seal's nails? It's not as if they have spas out in the ocean right? Seals naturally wear down their nails by scrabbling up onto the rocky shores along the coast. Here at the Aquarium they have much smoother surfaces that don't wear their nails down. This video is an example of an ongoing process to clip Trumpets' nails. She was very relaxed and easygoing about getting her nails done today but this is not always the case. Nail clipping is an example of a husbandry, or medical behavior, that we trainers continuously keep up so it can be an easy process. Just like the saying goes, "Practice makes perfect!"

-Rochelle

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posted by Rochelle at 3:12 PM 3 Comments