Introducing Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s Newest Residents, Wahoo and Tuna!
Two California sea lions are now calling Clearwater Marine Aquarium home! Fifteen-year-old Tuna and 16-year-old Wahoo are the CMA’s latest residents who moved into the new Pinniped Pier after their former home, the Miami Seaquarium, permanently closed. It’s been part of CMA’s long-term goal to introduce people to the pinniped species as part of their revitalization and expansion plan. The sea lions join the aquarium’s growing pinniped family, following the arrival of three harbor seals earlier this year.
Pinniped Pier officially opened last month, giving guests the chance to visit Tuna and Wahoo and learn all about the life of a sea lion. Kelsey Fisher is a senior animal care specialist with CMA who has worked with the sea lions to transition them to their new home. Fisher gave us some insight into what it’s been like and why having them join the CMA family has been so important.
TBPM: Tuna and Wahoo seem to be adapting quite well! What are their personalities like?
Kelsey Fisher: Sea lions in general are very energetic, very playful and very charismatic, and Tuna and Wahoo are no exception. They both seem very high energy. They really seem to enjoy learning new things, and so far, have been extremely adaptable, which is great. We're seeing them acclimate very well to their new environment, and a new care team is working with them, so it's been great to see.
TBPM: What was the transition like coming from Miami?
KF: We were able to have them join our Pinniped Pier as soon as it was ready, which was amazing. We were able to work with one of their previous care specialists for a while, learning all the ins and outs of them.
Every animal is a little bit different with what they're going to find reinforcing, what their history is, so it was really important to us to be able to build those strong relationships and that's what we're focusing on right now, is building those relationships, making sure they're comfortable in all of their new environments and so far, we're seeing all the things that we're wanting to see. They're participating in their training sessions, participating in enrichment, so it's been all good things.
TBPM: Are sea lions easy to train?
KF: They're extremely smart. We use the same type of training with them that we do with all of our resident animals. So we train using positive reinforcement, and basically all that means is when they offer behaviors we want to see more of in the future, we're going to give them something that they find reinforcing. So obviously fish is a great way to do that, but there's lots of other things we can use as well, and that's part of that relationship building: to get to know the animals as individuals so we can know exactly what Tuna seems to enjoy as opposed to what Wahoo seems to enjoy.
TBPM: What can guests expect when they come to visit Pinniped Pier?
KF: We're working on the animal schedule, and our goal right now is just that relationship building and acclimatizing them to their environment. Down the road, we are very excited to start offering different educational presentations with them … as they show us they're ready, some guest interaction opportunities. I think just when you come out here, the energy is infectious. You can hear kids screaming the first time they've seen a sea lion. There's something about a sea lion — they’re so charismatic, they're so iconic, and they really seem to capture the attention of everybody, young and old. It's fun to be around that environment for sure.
Pinniped Pier is now open to the public on the fourth floor of the aquarium. To visit Tuna, Wahoo and all the aquatic residents at CMA, visit cmaquarium.org.
Clearwater Marine Aquarium is located at: 249 Winward Passage, Clearwater, FL 33767
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