Oct 22, 2005 4:19 pm US/Central
CBS 2 At Brookfield Zoo: Seals And Sea Lions
by Susan Carlson
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
They look similar and they swim together, so what's the difference between seals and sea lions? Susan Carlson shows us and gets a little affection in this week's trip to Brookfield Zoo.
Good morning, I am with Andre Copeland and we are with the sea lions this morning. Introduce us to the cutie over here.
"Well, that's JR, our 19-year-old male California sea lion," Andre said.
Well, I was told that I could pet him. Will he get upset if I pet his back?
"Well, Felicia is the trainer working with JR, and she'll let you know when it's okay to pet him," said Andre. "First she is going to have to ask JR to lay down. And this is a position that the animals will adopt so our vets can come over and check them over from nose to the end of their flippers."
So I can pet him now?
"Just stroke very lightly. As you can see, JR is going to stay in that position until Alicia asks him to move."
He's got an interesting texture and he's well trained. Is it true they are polygamous animals?
"That is right. The males will live… with a bunch of females in a harem society. So a male sea lion can have many wives."
Somehow that just doesn't seem fair, but he seems to be happy with it. Now, you also have some seals in the same exhibit?
"That's right. They are sharing this exhibit with two female harbor seals, they are Banda and Sterling. And you're going to see a big difference in the way that the seals look compared to the sea lions."
What is the biggest primary difference between sea lions and seals?
"Well, if you take a look right behind you, you're going to see – if you look at their bodies – seals have much smaller flippers than the sea lions do. Sea lions have very long flippers and they can rotate their pelvis up under their body so that they can move across land very agile."
And this little one, I am told, is very affectionate and she might even give me a kiss?
"Yup, she sure will. Now, this is a female harbor seal and you can see they move totally differently than the California sea lion."
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