Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
They balance balls on their noses, jump through hoops, and sometimes kiss an audience member. They’re the sea lions of the Saint Louis Zoo (stlzoo.org), and trainer Ashley Duflo is their best buddy. Meet them at public feedings at Sea Lion Landing or performances at the Lichtenstein Sea Lion Arena.
• Their names are Roby, Bennie, Rosie, Nikki, Dixi, Lou, Boulder, Nipper, Mandy, Mia, and Nunavut, the harbor seal. Three were born here at the Saint Louis Zoo—Roby, Bennie, and Rosie. The others were born at other zoos and aquariums.
• The female pups are about 130 pounds. We have one adult female who’s about 180 pounds. Males can get up to 500 to 800 pounds. Our males are at about 500 pounds.
• There’s a lot of getting the fish they eat prepared, cleaning the sea lions’ enclosures, and spending time with them in training and feeding sessions and shows. We train each animal three times a day.
• They each have a distinct personality. For example, we have one sea lion who is very go, go, go. You can’t move fast enough for him. Then there are some others who have a slower pace; they’re very laid-back. You’re always learning new things about them.
• We like to call them behaviors, not tricks. They stem from natural behaviors they would exhibit in the wild. One of the animals likes to toss things, so we built a Frisbee-toss behavior, and people love it. Another one is the predator behavior. One of the sea lions imitates a great white shark. We also do a recycling behavior, where we have the sea lion pick up some litter and bring it back to a recycling bin.
• We like to show off how strong and intelligent they are.
• One of the biggest parts of the show is guest interaction. We’ll pick out a lucky kid and have them ask for behaviors from the sea lions. We show off how we ask them to open their mouth, which helps us in giving them healthcare. Sometimes at the end, the kid gets a kiss from the sea lion as well.
• The 2-year-old female named Mia has been one of the biggest hits in the tunnel. She seems to be fascinated by the people that walk through it. People run back and forth with her, and she chases them all over. She can’t get enough of it.
• If they don’t want to perform on a particular day, that’s perfectly fine. They have their off days, just like us. That happens during shows sometimes, and they go back into the pool. Then we can see if another sea lion would like to help us out.
• They eat restaurant-quality fish. To prepare it, we make sure it’s thawed all the way. They eat capelin, mackerel, herring, and in the summer, squid. The males eat 20 to 30 pounds of fish a day, and our females eat about half of that.
• One of the biggest differences is that sea lions have external ear flaps and seals do not. Sea lions are much more mobile on land; they have really large front flippers and can walk on all fours like a dog. That makes it really easy to use them in a show. A seal like Nuna has much smaller front flippers, and she doesn’t walk quite as well.
• We’re out in the freezing cold and the ridiculous heat. Part of our daily duties is to dive the exhibit to clean it. That can be really cold in the winter. Other than that, when you lose an animal, that’s really tough, because we build really close relationships.
• I’m originally from Orlando, and I have a bachelor’s degree in marine biology. Typically to become a trainer in our field, you have a bachelor’s degree in biology or psychology. The next most important step is getting as much hands-on animal experience as you can. I did three unpaid internships working with dolphins and sea lions and polar bears and seals.
• There’s nothing like a kid seeing a sea lion for the first time. That’s one of the biggest rewards.
