Shelby the Seal’s Tunnel Glass Dive Training

To give visitors to the Aquarium of the Pacific’s underwater pinniped viewing tunnel a better look at our harbor seals I started using a long target pole to train Shelby to dive down to the glass.

All the seals and sea lions in the exhibit are trained to place their nose or flippers on the target at the end of the pole when asked. They are also trained to follow the target pole as it is moved about. This is the base behavior for many of the other behaviors you see the critters do during a pinniped presentation. A long target pole allows me to guide Shelby all the way down to the glass.

In the video, you can see the first session of the tunnel dive training. Stay tuned to see how this training is progressing.