News Detail

It goes without saying that our two sea lion pups have grown in leaps and bounds this summer! Talise, now 5 months old, always seems to find something new to investigate. Colby, who is now over 1 year old, is continuing to progress in his formal training! These two pups have become excellent playmates for each other, often romping through the pool chasing after one another. These play behaviors are very important for growing pups as it helps them to learn about social relationships, how to survive in their environment all while increasing their strength and coordination.

Though still nursing from her mother, over the past month Talise has become extremely interested in playing with fish. She enjoys taking them from the trainers, swimming around with them and tossing them about. Talise will continue to nurse from her mother until she is about 6 to 12 months of age, but playing with fish is the first step in weaning a sea lion pup.

This summer Colby was introduced to shows where he has become more comfortable being around the sights and sounds of the crowd, music and microphone. He is progressing very nicely in learning basic behaviors such as to lie down, which we call “sleep”, and to go in a circle. The newest behaviors Colby is working on mastering are to jump and to gate, or take turns. Gating or taking turns, is very important and something that all of our animals learn. By teaching them to take turns, it allows the trainers to dedicate individual attention on each animal through out the day, which is essential to providing them with the best training possible.

Our staff is thrilled in the progress that these two pups are making and we can’t wait to see what their next milestones will be!