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Oregon Coast Tourists Can Name Seal Pup

(Seaside, Oregon) – The Oregon coast landmark, Seaside Aquarium, is about to experience the joys of motherhood, and they’re giving the public a chance to participate.

One of the seals at the aquarium is pregnant, and will give birth sometime in May or early June. So the Seaside Aquarium is holding a special program where you can name the new seal pup.

Manager Keith Chandler said for $1, you can purchase raffle tickets to get the chance to name the new pup. When it’s born, the raffle winner will get to pick the name (as long as it meets the approval of aquarium staff). Proceeds from the raffle sale will go to The Friends of Haystack Rock, which helps support the Haystack Awareness Program in Cannon Beach, where educators set up shop at the foot of the rocky monolith and inform the public on natural aspects of the area.

Chandler said multiple entries are allowed.

The seal was seen mating last summer, so staff suspected the creature could well be pregnant. “We didn’t really know that she was pregnant until she showed,” Chandler said. “They’re always pretty big. But when they’re pregnant, they get even bigger.”

The gestation period for these types of seals is 11 months, Chandler said.

Because of the wild environment in which they live, when seals are born, they must be ready to defend themselves and swim. “They have to be ready to function well,” Chandler said. “They’re born with their teeth fully developed and sharpened nails and so on.”

Seals live about 15 years in the wild, and about 20 years while in captivity at the Aquarium.

All the seals at the aquarium have been born there, and are descendents of a small group of seals. The in breeding has not affected them over the generations, Chandler said.

In 2004, five seals were born to the aquarium.

Having been in existence since 1937, the Seaside Aquarium was the first in the U.S. to successfully breed seals in captivity, back in the 1950’s.

For more information, call 503-738-6211. Seaside Aquarium, on the Promenade, in Seaside. www.seasideaquarium.com.

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