The Pinniped Post

This Friday, I participated in the "Seals Up Close" program at the Mystic Aquarium, in Mystic CT.  It was very well organized, the staff was very friendly, and the Seals were happy, bouncy, cute, and well cared for.  I learned a lot, and I highly recommend attending if you are interested in Seals.  We also saw Pearl's Pup!! First, we met a staff member by the Information Booth, where she led us into a room to give us an overview and safety talk.  There were lockers available for us to place any personal belongings in, with a key that we could keep around our necks and tucked in a shirt.  Mystic does have strict program rules that have to be followed for the safety of the participants, Trainers, and the Seals.  You must be able to fulfill all requirements that the Mystic Aquarium advertises, or you will not be able to attend.  I always felt that the Mystic Aquarium had everybody's safety in mind, both people and cute Seals (all Seals are cute). Afte...

Last week I spent a day watching the five female Harbor Seals at The Maritime Aquarium At Norwalk, in Connecticut. I really liked the layout of the Seal exhibit, since the Seals can be indoors or outdoors whenever they wanted, they had a long stretch of swimming area to be happy and stay active, and they had enough rocks to lay on. Even though the enclosure looks slightly smaller as compared to some other aquariums and zoos, it had a deep "figure eight" layout which gave the Seals a lot of uninterrupted distance to swim.  There was always at least one staff member watching the exhibit to ensure the safety of both the Seals and the visitors. I liked how you could get close to the Seals without them or you getting hurt.  In the indoor part there is a large glass area where you can view the Seals from a underwater viewpoint.   You don't always have to look through glass to see the Seals up close, because at both the indoor and outdoor areas you can get close to th...

Over the weekend, Pearl the pregnant Harbor Seal at the Mystic Aquarium gave birth to a baby boy!  See below for the announcement... Screenshot of Mystic Aquarium's Instagram account. Pearl and her baby boy went for their first swim on Wednesday!  After some coxing into the water, he took his first swim with the help of his mom.  At one point, he was learning how to swim by holding onto his mom's back. Screenshot of Mystic Aquarium's video of Pearl and her pup swimming adorably along the pool side.

Most people think that Fur Seals are Seals ... but is that true?  Are they really  Seals? In a previous post, we went over what makes a Seal and a Sea Lion different from each other.  As you can see from the photo below, Fur Seals have ear flaps.  Ear flaps are a characteristic of a Sea Lion.  Fur Seals have a rotating hip bone that helps them move on all four flippers, and also can slide their feet underneath their small little bodies. Seals always lay like a enormous loaf of bread on the ground and have to bounce to get anywhere on land. Because Fur Seals have ear flaps and move on their four flippers, they are actually more closely related to Sea Lions rather than Seals!  This is why Fur Seals are classified in the Family of Pinnipeds of "Otariidae" (Sea Lions and Fur Seals) and not "Phocidae" (earless, or true Seals).  So next time you go to a aquarium or zoo that has Fur Seals, please do not say "Oh what a cute SEAL!" without adding...