Swimming and training in the waters of the Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration is Hut, a California sea lion pup who has found a permanent home, but won’t find a permanent name until April 17.
Aquarium spokesperson Tim Gray described the sea lion as “sleek, fast, loves to play with toys, and eats fish and squid like there’s no tomorrow.” He added that the 18-month-old rambunctious male pup was first rescued on a beach in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
“This little fella came ashore the first time sick and malnourished in July of 2007,” Gray said.
“He was stranded on a beach near a restaurant called the Harbor Hut, which is where he got his preliminary name,” senior trainer in the Marine Theater Carey Richard said. Richard has been working with Hut since his arrival to the aquarium. “Hut was emaciated, malnourished, and was approaching people on the beach, which is very abnormal behavior for a wild animal. The Marine Mammal Center staff rescued Hut and brought him back to their facility where he was rehabilitated. After about a month at the Marine Mammal Center, Hut had a clean bill of health and he was released back into the wild.”
“He was treated and released in August 2007, only to be rescued again in Sonoma County, Calif., later the same month,” Gray said. “He had once again lost considerable weight and was...being fed by humans.”
“The staff kept an eye on him for a few days, hoping he would return to the ocean on his own,” Richard continued. “Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, so for his safety he was brought back to the Marine Mammal Center. It was at this time that NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service deemed him non-releasable due to his inability to survive on his own in the wild. Hut was also only about a year old when he stranded. Stranding twice at such a young age, in such a short amount of time, also didn’t bode well for life in the wild.”
“Due to this little critter’s inability to survive on his own in the ocean and his lack of fear of people, he was deemed un-releasable...and has now found a home here at Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration, one of the top facilities in the nation when it comes to caring for rescued animals,” Gray said.
Richard said out of the six trainers who work with the California sea lions, only three of them train Hut in order to provide as much consistency as possible for him.
“Hut’s training is moving along very well,” Richard said. “Due to the fact that he was a wild animal and had no formal association with people, we had to start from scratch with him. While he was in an outdoor quarantine area for the first few months he was here, the trainers began to teach him the basics of training such as eating from human hands, sitting at a feeding station, and, most important, to sit still for the duration of time.”
Richard said once Hut was introduced to the Marine Theater exhibit and the animals that live there, his training shifted to teaching him to remain focused on his trainer while the other animals performed in the show.
“We also had to desensitize him to stimuli that most people take for granted, such as show lighting, animals moving around him, music, trainers talking on microphone, and even the audience clapping,” Richard added. “All of these things can be scary for a young sea lion who hasn’t had any prior exposure to them.”
In the release, Gray said Hut can now be seen daily, frolicking in the Marine Theater pool.
“He can also be seen during the opening few minutes of our daily sea lion shows,” he added. “He’s not quite ready to join Coco and Surfer [two other sea lions at the aquarium] just yet during performances, but his training is going well and the public has the chance to get a sneak peak of his progress at the beginning of every sea lion performance.”
Aside from visiting Hut, the community has directly affected him by participating in a contest to choose his permanent name. Submissions have been received by the aquarium’s Web site for visitors. The contest spanned from March 14 to April 16 and the winning name will be announced April 17 live on the air by Scot Haney, morning weather anchor for WFSB. The name will also be announced on Channel 3 on April 18.
“Winners of our naming contest receive some great prizes, including a behind-the-scenes tour and the opportunity to get up close to our new sea lion pup,” Gray said in the release.
For more information, contact the Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration at 860-572-5955 or visit www.mysticaquarium.org.