The Pinniped Thread

Giant Eland said:
That location for the captive Bearded Seal is Joseph M. Long Marine Laboratory in California but I just called to check in with them, and it would seem that Seal was long ago released. They do currently have a Hawaiian Monk seal which will be sent to Hawaii at some point in the future.
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How did they get a monk seal? Did one make it all the way to CA and need rehabilitated?
 
Great Argus said:
How did they get a monk seal? Did one make it all the way to CA and need rehabilitated?
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This article from 2010 says they have a male Hawaiian Monk Seal which was abandoned as a pup and later sent to Long, and that "the long-term plan" is to return him to Hawaii where he would be placed in a public facility (the seal is considered unfit to survive if released into the wild).

This may be the same seal because the article notes that they obviously don't want any diseases brought into the wild population if he is returned to Hawaii. I couldn't find anything on whether the seal was returned to Hawaii or not.

Monk seal taken to UCSC lab for study, treatment
 
Chlidonias said:
This article from 2010 says they have a male Hawaiian Monk Seal which was abandoned as a pup and later sent to Long, and that "the long-term plan" is to return him to Hawaii where he would be placed in a public facility (the seal is considered unfit to survive if released into the wild).

This may be the same seal because the article notes that they obviously don't want any diseases brought into the wild population if he is returned to Hawaii. I couldn't find anything on whether the seal was returned to Hawaii or not.

Monk seal taken to UCSC lab for study, treatment
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Wonder if there would be anything against placing another such monk seal on the mainland.
 
it has been ages since I've been to Sea World, but doesn't the San Antonio location have Hawaiian monk seals? I haven't been since childhood, and I can't recall if that was one of the species I saw there, but I recall the Pacific walrus clearly

growing up in Abilene, we had some geriatric, blind California sealions in the old exhibit there (they are now all deceased, and the exhibit has been turned into a howler monkey cage)

in 2000 I got to go up to Alaska and see wild Steller sealions napping on a buoy, and wild harbour seals lounging on the ice of Glacier Bay
 
i believe i have seen

California sea lion
Harbor seal
Gray seal
Hawaiian monk seal
Walrus
Northern fur seal
 
AbileneBoy said:
it has been ages since I've been to Sea World, but doesn't the San Antonio location have Hawaiian monk seals? I haven't been since childhood, and I can't recall if that was one of the species I saw there, but I recall the Pacific walrus clearly

growing up in Abilene, we had some geriatric, blind California sealions in the old exhibit there (they are now all deceased, and the exhibit has been turned into a howler monkey cage)

in 2000 I got to go up to Alaska and see wild Steller sealions napping on a buoy, and wild harbour seals lounging on the ice of Glacier Bay
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Currently the only continental place with Hawaiians is Minnesota Zoo.

Looks like they had them in the past though: Hawaiian Monk Seal News - Monachus Guardian 2 (2): November 1999
 
I feel like I’ve seen many pinniped species so far
  • Gray Seal (Detroit, Lincoln Park, Toledo)
  • Harbor Seal( Detroit, Toledo, Central Park)
  • California Sea Lion (Central Park, Shedd, SeaWorld)
  • Walrus (SeaWorld)
  • Northern Fur Seal (Wild).
 
I have seen:

Harbor Seal*
California Sea Lion*
Spotted Seal
Ringed Seal
Walrus*
Steller's Sea Lion*
Gray Seal*

asterisk denotes species seen in the wild
all species have been seen in captivity as well
 
  • California sea lion *
  • Grey seal
  • Guadalupe fur seal
  • Harbor seal *
  • Hawaiian monk seal
  • Ringed seal
  • Steller's sea lion
  • Walrus
"*" implies I've seen the species in the wild and in captivity
 
In captivity I have seen:
Steller sea lion
Californian sea lion
South American sea lion
South American fur seal
Brown fur seal
Spotted seal
Baikal seal
Grey seal
Ringed seal
Bearded seal
 
A friend told me today that elephant seals are rarely kept because they tend to die easily in captivity; for example, the male Coolio at Pittsburgh Zoo suddenly died last December. Does anyone have records on how long elephant seals have survived in zoos and aquariums, such as Minazo from Japan? I'm also interested in similar stats for the leopard seals that were at Taronga Zoo and ribbon seals that were historically kept (I believe there is still one male in Japan).
 
RatioTile said:
Does anyone have records on how long elephant seals have survived in zoos and aquariums, such as Minazo from Japan? I'm also interested in similar stats for the leopard seals that were at Taronga Zoo
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The book "Longevity of Mammals in Captivity; From the Living Collections of the World” (Richard Weigl; 2005) records southern elephant seals living 23 years 8 months (Antwerp), 23 years (Madrid) and 21 years 7 months (Stuttgart).

The same book lists the captive longevity records for leopard seal as 16 years 5 months (Marineland of New Zealand) and 12 years 6 months (Taronga).
 
That location is on my shortlist of places to visit once I'm able to travel again. Unfortunately I think America's going to be the last country the rest of the world will lift travel bans on.
 
Seeing that it’s been quite some time since the then-latest reply, I figured it would make a difference to bring this discussion back with my own list of pinniped sightings:

Exclusively Seen in the Wild
• Northern Elephant Seal
• Hawaiian Monk Seal

Exclusively Seen in Captivity
• Walrus*
• Steller’s Sea Lion
• Harp Seal
• Northern Fur Seal

Both Wild & Captivity
• Harbor Seal
• Grey Seal
• California Sea Lion

(*Pacific, specifically)
 
In the wild (*indicates also seen in zoos):-
  • common/harbor seal (eastern Atlantic* & western Pacific subspecies)
  • grey seal*
  • northern elephant seal
  • Californian sealion*
  • Cape fur seal*
In zoos:-
  • Atlantic walrus
  • Baikal seal
  • southern elephant seal
  • Patagonian sealion
  • Steller's sealion
  • south American fur seal
 
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