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.




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."


To help Beaver and Sake get used to being around larger animals and help them get information about how different animals behave underwater, Project SLEWTH researchers took Sake and Beaver to Sea World and had them swim with JJ.  The experiment was a success, because the Sea Lions did get comfortable with going up to JJ after getting over some initial fear.


Underwater photograph of a California sea lion (Beaver) with harness and attached camera alongside a rehabilitating California gray whale calf (JJ) at SeaWorld of San Diego. 



I think that this was an interesting experiment because researchers managed to put modern equipment on Sea Lions and record what a Whale does underwater, without either of the animals freaking out. 

You can read more about this experiment in the article "Training California Sea Lions To Record Whale Behavior Using a Rehabilitating California Gray Whale Calf."

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