Sake and Beaver: Spying On Whales
In the late 1990s there was a project known as SLEWTH - "Sea Lions Exploring Whales and Their Habitats." Researchers attached harnesses with cameras to the Sea Lions and trained the Sea Lions to swim next to Whales, and record the behavior of the Whales. Two Sea Lions names "Sake" and "Beaver" were trained to follow a model Whale in the ocean, and then encountered real Whales. Photo from website discussing SLEWTH When the Sea Lions encountered real Whales in the ocean, the Sea Lions were agitated. Beaver was so agitated after encountering a Whale that he jumped out of the water and back into the research boat. What the researchers needed to do was get the Sea Lions more used to Whales. In the late 1990s, Sea World at San Diego was rehabilitating a Gray Whale named "JJ." JJ rehabilitating at San Diego Sea World To help Beaver and Sake get used to being around larger animals and help them get information about how different ...