SeaWorld’s baby walrus is learning how to swim
The newborn walrus will eventually spend the majority of her life in the water. But right now, at less than two weeks old, she still needs swimming lessons at SeaWorld Orlando.
Clumsy and curious, she plops into her shallow behind-thescenes pool before her noontime bottle on Monday. She isn’t a graceful swimmer yet, dog paddling to keep her whiskered face above the water as her body gets stronger.
“Come on, baby,” softly says Kelly Trotto, a senior animal care specialist dressed in a wetsuit. Then the milestone happens. The walrus forgets about her bottle, her zookeeper, the strangers watching her. She dives under, completely submerged, for a few moments. She resurfaces to coos from the SeaWorld staff.
These are the first few days of the new baby walrus’ life.
Still unnamed, the baby is never left alone.
On the overnight shift, Diana Hawke snuggles up to the baby when the walrus tires out. The walrus lays up in her lap or curls up next to her. Other times, the walrus is exploring, eager to play. There’s a ball to push with her snout or the cold sensation of ice to discover.
“It’s kinda like raising an infant,” said Hawke, 36, of Orlando.
Hawke has been there since the beginning.
Kaboodle, the baby’s mother, was acting subtly differently July 3. Normally a more quiet animal, her barks had an extra growl to it.
They got the veterinarians “real quick,” said Hawke, a senior animal care specialist who has worked at the park for 12 years.
The birth happened fast. First, a flipper appeared, then the whole 150-pound baby emerged within two or three minutes. Kaboodle nuzzled her calf who began barking.
The calmness of the scene impressed Hawke.
“It was incredible. I’m one of the very few people who have ever seen a live walrus birth,” she said. “I now have this thing to brag about for the rest of my life.”
The walrus, which weighed in Monday at 167 pounds, is handfed eight bottles a day because her mother isn’t lactating. SeaWorld officials aren’t sure why.
“Our goal is always to keep them together, but when mom’s not able to sustain it, we’ve got to do something,” said Jon Peterson, who manages the rescue team at SeaWorld Orlando.
Protected by a barrier, the baby, who looks about the size of a dog, visits her 2,200-pound mother every day. They bark at each other and nuzzle and play. Within a few weeks, SeaWorld expects the two to be reunited once the baby is bigger.
“What we’re doing is slow steps every day,” Peterson said.
SeaWorld visitors lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time can catch a glimpse of the baby in the Wild Arctic exhibit. Trotto brought the walrus out for a few minutes Monday afternoon for some playtime while a crowd leaned up against the glass window to watch.
“It beats going into the office every day,” one man joked as he watched Trotto, laughing, as the walrus squirted water and plopped in the pool again, eager to keep swimming.