WildView™

March 3, 2025

Learning from Each Other

- as seen by -

Vanessa Daly

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One of the phrases wild animal keepers often use is that our visitors think we’re the ones teaching animals, but the reality is, that our animals teach us, too.

At the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium, it wasn’t until I worked on training my first behavior with a harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) named Sidney that I was able to fully grasp that concept.

I trained Sidney for a flex behavior where I asked her to bend her neck backward. When I first began to shape the behavior, I stood on Sidney’s left side. One day, I asked for a flex behavior while standing in front of her. Sidney wouldn’t offer the behavior, and I was confused. I realized I wasn’t in my regular position when I asked her to flex. That was the day the young seal taught me something. I learned from her just how important body and hand positions are when training a new behavior.

Thank you for teaching me, Sidney.

In 2020, Sidney, the harbor seal pup, was rescued and cared for by a team from the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, California. It was determined that she could not be released into the wild. Sidney joined the harbor seal family at the Aquarium in 2021 where she celebrated her fifth birthday in February 2025.

Nikon D6

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