Pinniped Joy on Disney Junior: the Octonauts Get Their Pinniped Science Correct!



The Octonauts is the most amazing marine life show ever!  Some may say it is for little kids, but I strongly disagree.  I think that the marine science is of such high quality that it is educational for people of all ages.  And fun and cute, too.  Right now, it is shown on Netflix.  It is a show where a group of ocean-loving animals "Explore! Rescue Protect!" marine life, with a strong science background.

I always look forward to the Pinniped episodes.  For example, consider the quality science presented in Octonauts' Season 3 Episode 10 "Octonauts & the Harbor Seal."


In this episode, Peso (the penguin Paramedic of the Octonauts) has to find "Nora the Remora" who had accidentally attached herself to a sailfish - don't ask, just accept. However, the Octonauts have no clues as to where Nora has gone. Captain Barnacles (the polar bear Captain of the Octonauts) knows that with so few clues there is only one animal too help. In a plot twist, Captain Barnacles does not sound the traditional "Octoalert" to summon help as usual .. but instead sounds the "Harbor Seal alert" to summon Harry the Harbor Seal.

 
Activating the Harbor Sea alert, sending vibrations into the water

The Harbor Seal alert is an alarm which sends a vibration through the water.  And how does Harry the Harbor Seal pick up the vibrations, you ask?  Well, if you will recall my past post on Harbor Seal Whisker Science, you will have a good idea.

 
Harry's vibrasse sense the Harbor Seal alert

Yes, Harry the Harbor Seal senses vibrations in the water with his vibrasse - his whiskers.  Harry then swims into the Octopod (the Octonauts' undersea mobile base) to explain how Harbor Seals can track fish.  This will be a critical skill to find Nora the Remora.

"I always find my fish" - Harry the Harbor seal

Afterwards, Harry leads the Octonauts to the last place where Nora the Remora was seen - and Harry used his whiskers to detect a large fish traveling with a little fish, and followed the trail.  After being accidentally diverted by a shark and a cleaning wrasse, they regained the trail of Nora and the sailfish she was attached to.

It was during this sequence that I noted how Harry used both his hind flippers and front flippers to swim.  I was used to seeing Seals use their hind flippers in aquariums, but after recalling my many hours of Pinniped viewing on YouTube, I remembered that they did use their front flippers.  Amazing detail of this show.  You can't stump the Octonauts.
 

After running into some crabby Snapping Shrimp and being stunned, Harry eventually finds Nora the Remora and the sailfish she was attached to.  An epic chase scene follows.


Eventually, the sailfish begins to leap out of the water, and it is up to Harry the Harbor Seal and Peso to grab Nora and remove her from the sailfish.  Which they do, of course.  And Nora is freed, thanks to Harry's sensitive vibrasse.


I was not sure if Harbor Seals could leap ("porpoise") as was shown.  I have seen California Sea Lions and Fur Seals do this, but I have never seen a Harbor Seal leap like this.  Still, as you can see at this link from the New England Aquarium in Boston, it is possible for Harbor Seals leap.

There is one item in the episode that I am not sure about. When Harry is explaining how Harbor Seals use their vibrasse to find fish, he states that he can "track it for a hundred miles."  This does not seem right to me - Harbor Seals would be constantly bothered by all of the fish swimming if their vibrasse were really that sensitive.  I am slightly doubtful, and need to do more research.  Still, this is the best show ever for learning about marine life.

Unlike "Sammy, the Way-Out Seal" I give "Octonauts & the Harbor Seal" 5 fibsh out of a possible 5 fibsh. 

Seal you later!



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