Blog

That’s a wrap on week 3 of at-home engagement! We hope you enjoyed learning about northern fur seals in the wild and in human care—including the Aquarium’s own irresistible Leu and Flaherty.

Did you miss any of the week’s activities? No worries—you can check them out now: get the backstory on “the boys” and learn some cool northern fur seal facts on our blog; discover some of the fascinating challenges of doing northern fur seal research in the middle of the Bering Sea; and watch a live diver experience from our Window on Washington Waters exhibit!

You can also go back and enjoy Puget Sound Fish Week or Sea Otter Week on your own schedule.

As we mentioned in our post earlier this week, a mature male northern fur seal can weigh over 600 pounds. While Leu and Flaherty aren’t nearly that heavy now (Leu recently weighed in at 207), they’re certainly big enough to make their caretakers thankful that they’ve been trained to voluntarily participate in their own health care.

That’s right! Leu and Flaherty—along with many animals species at the Seattle Aquarium—are trained to voluntarily participate in routine exams, oral hygiene, weight checks and more, just like you voluntarily participate in your own health care by stepping on the scale at the doctor’s office and holding your mouth open when you get your teeth cleaned.

In 2012, Seattle Aquarium Associate Curator of Birds and Mammals Julie Carpenter had the opportunity to assist scientists from NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) with their pup count, which happens every two years in the Pribilof Islands, Alaska.

The Pribilofs are home to the largest breeding colonies (or rookeries) of northern fur seals in the world, representing over half of the world’s northern fur seal population. Collaborating on the research and participating in it side-by-side with the field researchers provided Julie with firsthand experience and knowledge about the research techniques and technical challenges involved in working with the wild northern fur seal population—making her uniquely suited to bring a deeper understanding of this work back to the staff and visitors of the Seattle Aquarium.

Through this cooperative relationship, we’ve been able to continue educating people about the critical population studies being conducted in these far-off islands and the many issues surrounding the Pribilof fur seals.

We’re honored to provide a home to Leu and Flaherty, two of just 10 northern fur seals living in zoos and aquariums in the United States. Leu was rescued in May 2012 after being found stranded under a kelp bed on a California beach; his estimated age at that time was 11 months. Poor Leu was emaciated and missing patches of his guard hairs—and it was soon determined that he was blind in his right eye. He was deemed non-releasable and went to live at the New England Aquarium until early 2015, when he moved to the Seattle Aquarium. Flaherty was born at the New England Aquarium in 2012 and spent his early years there until joining the Seattle Aquarium in 2015.

We got this Seattle! Our communities have rallied together and done an incredible job flattening the curve as we work together to beat COVID-19. You may not be able to visit us at the Aquarium, but we are excited to bring the Aquarium to you at home!

Did you have a chance to tune in for Puget Sound Fish Week or catch some of our Sea Otter Week? If you missed them, make sure to check out some of the learning opportunities we posted on our blog, and take a moment to watch the live diver experience we did on Facebook with some members of our Aquarium team.

This week we’re excited to feature another of our amazing marine mammal species: the northern fur seal! The Seattle Aquarium is one of few aquariums across the country that has northern fur seals in our care, and we’re excited for your to learn all about this incredible species with us this week.

Another week of at-home engagement has come to a close. We learned a lot about the amazing fish species that call our local waters home and we hope you had as much fun as we did!

If you missed any of our activities, make sure you check out our blog to discover fascinating fishy facts, learn about Northwest salmon recovery and see how a wolf eel gets a checkup from our staff veterinarian. You should also take a moment to watch the live diver experience we did on Facebook with some members of our Aquarium team—practicing social distancing of course!

If you missed it, don’t worry! You can always go back and enjoy Puget Sound Fish Week on your own schedule, or even check out our fun-filled Sea Otter Week.

Earlier this week we shared some fun facts about an amazing Puget Sound fish: the wolf eel. Even though its name is misleading, it’s actually a fish—not an eel—commonly found in our local waters. And, despite their somewhat grumpy appearance, wolf eels are gentle and friendly fish that commonly interact with our Aquarium divers as they clean exhibits and feed our fish friends. Expert animal care is a vital part of the Aquarium’s mission, and our animal care staff regularly monitor the health and well-being of the animals in our care—which includes annual checkups for our fish!

We simply can’t have a week of online engagement about Puget Sound fish without devoting some very special attention to one of the most culturally significant and iconic local species, critical to the overall health of our Pacific Northwest marine and terrestrial ecosystems: the salmon.

Our local waters are home to some truly amazing fish—according to our friends at the Burke Museum, 253 species of fish have been recorded in the Salish Sea. (Curious about what waters are encompassed by that term? The Salish Sea includes Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Strait of Georgia and the waters around the San Juan islands and Canada’s Gulf islands—roughly 6,500 square miles altogether.)

That’s a lot of fish in the (Salish) Sea! And today, we’re bringing you highlights of some of our favorites, plus three fast facts about each.

We’re excited to kick off our second week of online engagement with the Aquarium as we all continue to practice social distancing. Last week we featured Sea Otter Week—if you missed it, make sure to check out some of the learning opportunities we posted on our blog and the fun activities we shared through social media.

This week, April 6–10 we’re excited to feature some of the unique fish species that make their homes in Puget Sound and the greater Salish Sea. Ever wonder how old different fish species can get? Interested in learning about what a veterinary exam looks like for a wolf eel? Make sure you tune in for a full week of online learning and fun!

We’ve been learning a lot about sea otters this week as we practice social distancing. We learned about the otters under the Seattle Aquarium’s care, we tested our ability to count wild otters in the field, and we met some of our incredible staff who shared fun facts about what makes sea otters so special.

Now it’s time to test your knowledge with a few trivia questions!

Every year the Seattle Aquarium participates in the annual Washington sea otter survey, organized and run by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The Aquarium has participated in the sea otter survey since 2001 and has expanded on this important work by conducting our own sea otter foraging research, including bimonthly surveys, along Washington’s outer coast.