ZooBlog

Fonzie is a twenty two-year old California sea lion. He is the oldest and largest sea lion at the New York Aquarium. He was born at the Niagara Falls Aquarium in 1986 and came to the New York Aquarium in 1994. He participated in daily demonstrations at the Aquatheater until Duke's arrival in 2005.

In 2005, Fonzie retired but continued to live in the backstage area with other male sea lions. He was moved to Sea Cliffs briefly to live with Phinneus early 2007 and once again moved to another backstage area to make space for the walrus mom and calf.

Currently, Fonzie is enjoying a well deserved semi retirement, which makes himself a rare sight in the Aquatheater demonstrations.

Sex: Male
Born: 6/28/2000
Origin: SeaWorld Orlando
Dam: Unknown
Siblings: Unknown
Weight: 400 pounds

Osborn, or sometimes called "Oz", is a eight year-old California sea lion. He was born at SeaWorld Orlando in 2000 and came to the New York Aquarium in May 2001.

Oz performs daily at the Aquarium's Aquatheater. He now replaces Otis' role. He gives "kisses" to the front row audience and is often used to go onto the "tower" and dive in during the "agility" portion of the show.

Oz lives with the Aquatheater sea lions including Otis, Bodega and Duke, and a harbor seal Bernie.

Identification: Oz is now mostly the sole performer at the Aquatheater, aside from a younger sea lion named Duke. Oz has short whiskers, and is slightly smaller than Otis. Osborn is also greyer in color, as seen in the picture.

Osborn at the Aquatheater:

Sex: Male
Born: 5/25/1988
Origin: New York Aquarium
Dam: Ginger
Sire: Corky
Weight: 155- 200 pounds

Bernie is an Atlantic harbor seal. He is born at the Aquarium to mother Ginger and father Corky. Bernie's mother wouldn't nurse him and although he bonded with a female named Patches, he was raised by the keepers.

Bernie lived in Sea Cliffs for a while, but eventually moved to the Aquatheater for the training demonstrations. Bernie was used daily for the introduction/pre-show, but now occasionally does the show because of Duke's arrival. Now Duke and Bernie are randomly selected to participate the intro.

Bernie lives with sea lions at the Aquatheater, including Otis, Bodega, Osborn and Duke. He is the only one of his kind at the Aquairum and occasionally fed by volunteers.

Identification: Bernie is the only harbor seal at the Aquarium.