Visitors to Moody Gardens this summer will have the chance to see a playful 7-year-old from Denver that recently took up residence at the Aquarium Pyramid, and he is making a big splash!

Duke, a California sea lion, is the latest addition to the North Pacific exhibit and joins fellow sea lion Sam who came to Moody Gardens in 2016. Duke’s former home at the Denver Zoo is scheduled to undergo construction, so he came south to Galveston to keep Sam company.

Typically herd animals, the sea lions share the exhibit with four Harbor seals and are enjoying their expanded circle of friends. Duke seems to enjoy visitors to the exhibit as well, blowing raspberries at onlookers.

“He was actually a double stranding in California before he went to Denver, so he was a rescue,” relates Elizabeth Kucera, a penguin and seal biologist who works with Duke. “He is very used to people, but he is still technically a wild animal, so we always respect his boundaries—if he doesn’t want to work with us, we let him have his space.” “

Duke weighs a little over 340 pounds right now, and he eats a LOT of fish,” she continues. “That includes capelin, which is basically a vegetable fish for him, not too high in fat or calories; herring and mackerel which are the cheeseburger and bacon cheeseburger of the fish world; and a little bit of squid.”

Kucera describes Duke’s introduction to Sam. “When Duke came in, he went through a quarantine period to make sure he was healthy, and now he’s out on exhibit. When he was first put on exhibit, the staff rotated the two sea lions to provide space for them. For the first week they could smell each other’s scents, but now they’re actually playing together.”

 

“They’re getting along swimmingly,” she quips. “A lot of talking going on all day long. It’s fun for them. For the keepers it’s kind of like listening to a child yelling to his friend all day.”

Besides being a new friend for Sam and an exciting addition for the Moody Gardens staff, Duke will provide visitors with a more robust display of typical sea lion interactions like barking, playing, and chasing each other through the water and on land.

“They’re going to see the more active and fun side of Sam as opposed to him being by himself, and playing with the Harbor seals here and there. Harbor seals are much smaller in comparison.”

In addition to his time spent in the exhibit, Duke will have training sessions with Kucera about three times each day. Kucera, who graduated from the Texas A & M University with a degree in Wildlife & Fisheries Science and a double major in Renewable Resources, is aware of a common misunderstanding that training is for the amusement of humans, but she explains that it serves a much more important purpose.

What the public often refers to as “tricks,” the trainers call “behaviors.” The fact that people enjoy watching the process is a bonus.

“We try to give them a lot of stimulations, and behavior training is one of the best ways to do that. It gets them thinking and engaged and working. But also, it allows us to check them out physically. For instance, if I have Sam lay on his back and spread his flippers out it allows us to get an entire view of his underside, to make sure he doesn’t have any wounds, or issues. Being able to work with them in that capacity allows us to take better care of them because they are basically offering their own physical without really knowing it, and they are getting rewarded and having fun.”

Kucera communicates a command with her voice and hand signals and blows a whistle if the behavior is performed before giving a fish to the sea lion. The whistle sound is called a “bridge” because it bridges from the correctly executed behavior to the reward.

California sea lions are usually found on islands off of Southern California and Baja California in Mexico, up the U.S. West Coast to Vancouver Island, Canada. Their diets consist of primarily fish and squid, and they can remain underwater for an average of 20 minutes at a time.

Although their population is increasing in the wild and they are currently listed as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, having California sea lions on exhibit allows Moody Gardens to educate the public about the issues that these marine mammals face in the wild. California sea lions are impacted greatly by human activity including pollution, boat propellers, and attacks by domestic animals while pupping along the beaches.

Visitors can see Duke and his exhibit mates inside the North Pacific exhibit inside the Moody Gardens Aquarium Pyramid, one of the largest and most diverse aquariums in the United States. With over 1.5 million gallons of water, the Aquarium Pyramid houses marine life from five distinct environments.

For hours and ticket information, visit MoodyGardens.org or call 409.744.4673.