Sea Lions (2nd post) (4/23/13)

Sea Lions are not like lions. Actually there more like dogs. Today, I met Cassie, a female California Sea Lion. Usually California Sea Lions are born in California  but Cassie was born in an aquarium in Mississippi so she's the most tame animal out of 41 Dolphins and 18 Sea Lions at Dolphin Cay (pronounced "key").  Male Sea Lions weigh about 600-800 lbs, even up to 100lbs in the wild,  and females weigh about 200-400 lbs. See the difference. Cassie only weighs 190 and is 19 years old. sea lions live about 14-24 years, and up to 30 years in captivity. Atlantis' Dolphin Cay feeds the Sea Lions herring and capland because it's not as slimy as other fish, and so the guests can pick it up to feed them. Also the sea lions and dolphins prefer it to most fish. The 59 residents at Dolphin Cay eat 1,000 ponds of this fish a day. Wow that's a lot of fish. Sea lions can also get cataracts just like humans. The sea lion has 4 nursing holes, unlike seals who only have two. Sea lions also have two ear flaps, one on each side of their head, but seals have a pin-hole on the top of their head covered with fur. Seal lions and seals both have 1 pup at a time but can have twins sometimes. Sea lions have nails on their rear flippers so they can scratch their head. (We saw Cassie do that.) The California Sea Lion have a long nose like a Doberman pincher nose, unlike the South American Sea Lion which has a short nose like a bulldog.  Cassie is a movie star. She was in a movie called Andre. She played a seal in the movie.

Thanks for reading, Tomorrow, rays, sharks, and iguanas.

                                                                                  (that's Cassie and me)