New Seal Pup Born to North Oregon Coast Attraction

Published 06/07/2011

(Seaside, Oregon) – There is again the sound of little flippers at the Seaside Aquarium. The north Oregon coast landmark and attraction just announced the birth of a new seal pup, born earlier in the day Tuesday (all photos Seaside Aquarium).

The pup is the offspring of Greta, a harbor seal born to the aquarium on May 26, 1996. She is 15 years old, and she and the new little one are doing fine, according to Seaside Aquarium’s Tiffany Boothe.

“This is the first pup the aquarium has had in five years,” Boothe said. “Like all the seal that reside at the Seaside Aquarium, Greta, the pup’s mother, was born here.”

Boothe said they have already named the baby seal but they don’t as yet know the sex.

Manager Keith Chandler came up with the name “Frankie” – which will work well if it turns out to be a male or female seal. Finding out the sex, however, will take more handling than they want to do at the moment.

“The sex isn’t that important to us right now,” Boothe said. “We want to handle the baby as little as possible right now so as not to stress the mother or the baby.”

Boothe said the baby can be seen with its mom while they spend time bonding in the “pup” tank during the day.

Seaside Aquarium lets you get quite close to the seals and feed them, which will delight those looking to gawk at the new addition.

Greta gave birth to another seal in 2006. A raffle was held to name the seal, and the honor to name him was won by a couple from Bend, who gave him the moniker of Cecil.

The Seaside Aquarium is likely the first facility to successfully breed harbor seals in captivity in the western part of the United States, having done so in the 1950’s.

More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging.....

More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining.....

LATEST OREGON COAST NEWS STORIES

Back to Oregon Coast

Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net