Sea Lions To Come To Mote For New Exhibit

Put your flippers together to welcome sea lions to on Dec. 1.

After the popular Penguin Island exhibit last season, the aquarium announced Monday that California and Patagonian sea lions will visit here from Dec. 1 to spring 2013.

The exhibit is called Sea Lions: On the Water's Edge to give visitors an up-close look at these sea mammals. Mote is also looking for sponsors for the exhibit, too.

Protected by the 1972 U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act, California sea lions' population has bounced back over the years.

Pategonian sea lions — native to South America and not covered by the 1972 law — have also came back. Mote staff says the sea lions are still threatened today by injuries from fishing gear and marine debris, along with other complications of living in close proximity to humans.

Here's what you can expect to learn at the exhibit:

• By land or sea
  A number of pinnipeds can hear and see and communicate both on land and underwater.
• They get around

 Sea lions are highly agile in the water, thanks in part to their streamlined    bodies and sleek fur. They might look a bit clumsy on land, but they have    no trouble exploring — on Año Nuevo Island near California, sea lions       have even climbed up the stairs in an old house.

• Have you heard?
  Studies show that while under water, some pinnipeds can hear frequencies higher than 70,000 Hz (the human hearing range is about 20 to 20,000 Hz). Sea lions and fur seals have small external ears, while true seals do not.
• Touchy, touchy
  Pinnipeds have highly sensitive whiskers that may connect with 10 times as many nerve fibers as the whiskers of land mammals. Whiskers help pinnipeds sense water movements to find prey and navigate dark or murky waters.
• Cold water, warm heart
  Pinnipeds have thick blubber, fur or both that helps them stay warm in cold water. They can also retain warmth, or disperse excess heat, through special networks of blood vessels that are arranged to optimize body temperature regulation.
• That’s deep
  California sea lions can dive deeper than 880 feet and other pinnipeds can go even further down. For instance, adult female elephant seals have been documented diving to 4,100 feet.
• “See” mammals
  Most pinnipeds have good vision in and out of the water. The retinas of their eyes may have high numbers of rods — a type of light-sensing cell — so they can see underwater at night or at depth. They even have a tapetum lucidum, a light-reflecting layer that helps the eye make better use of low light. It also causes their eyes to “glow” at night like a cat’s.
• Sea Lion Smarts
  Sea lions can learn complicated behaviors and some California sea lions have been trained to communicate with humans similar to the way some dolphins have been trained.

The Aquarium at Mote, which is open from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. seven days per week, including all holidays, at 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway in Sarasota. Admission is included with a regular ticket. Tickets are $17 for adults, $16 for seniors (over 65), $12 for kids (ages 4-12) and free for children age 3 and younger. Mote Members get in free.