NEWS FROM THE ALASKA SEALIFE CENTER AND THE ALASKA ZOO
Chloe and pupChloe the Harbor Seal Now a Mom; Caregivers Monitor First Marine Mammal Birth at the Alaska SeaLife Center
Twelve-year-old Chloe, a harbor seal from the Alaska Zoo that is currently housed at the Alaska SeaLife Center, gave birth on Saturday June 23, 2007 at 5:18 a.m. Chloe’s pup weighed in at 30.4 pounds and measured 28.5 inches in length. Both mom and pup are doing well.

The pup’s arrival represents a milestone at the SeaLife Center. It is the first birth of a marine mammal at the Seward-based marine research, rehabilitation, conservation and public education facility. The center has celebrated the hatching of birds, fish and invertebrates, but never the birth of a marine mammal.

The pup’s mom, Chloe, a rehabilitated seal from Egegik, is a Pacific harbor seal Phoca vitulina richarii. The father, Snapper is an Atlantic harbor seal, a subspecies, Phoca vitulina vitulina.

According to Alaska SeaLife Center Mammalogist, Elizabeth Moundalexis, the mom and pup are forming familial bonds. There has been a lot of nuzzling and nose to nose touching, says Moundalexis.
The baby seal made a first swim at 6:48 a.m. on June 23. The young harbor seal and mother are currently under 24 hour watch via remote video monitoring.

The baby will be visible to the public at Alaska SeaLife Center.

According to Christy Phillips, mammalogist at the Alaska SeaLife Center, the labor proceeded well. We all spent a lot of time waiting. Everybody has been waiting and excited, but it went really quickly, says Phillips who landed the 4 a.m. shift and observed the birth.

Chloe was brought to the Alaska SeaLife Center to provide a home while her space at the Alaska Zoo is rebuilt - but also in part to provide companionship and potentially to produce offspring. Chloe conceived sometime last summer. Anne Hoover-Miller, harbor seal program manager, notes that seals exhibit a delayed implantation. Seal birth times differ between locations and current theory is that this difference is keyed on either photo period (amount of daylight) or genetics or a combination of the two factors. Once implantation occurs, seal gestation times are not all that different from humans, adds Hoover-Miller.

The Alaska Zoo looks forward to Chloe and her pup’s home coming, says Pat Lampi, director of the Alaska Zoo. The new habitat, which is still under construction, will provide a greatly improved exhibit for her and a better viewing experience for the public, he adds.