Скачать или смотреть Otaru Aquarium Seals! Ringed, Spotted, Bearded, & Sea Lions! / 小樽水族館アザラシ特集 ゴマフ・ゼニガタ・オットセイ! 🦭🐟🐦‍⬛🌊

Hello, in this video you can see some of the seals and sea lions at the Otaru Aquarium in Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan!
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Spotted Seals
They have many spotted seals. Most of these seals live in a caged off section of the ocean, so they get open air and sea water. However, I did notice they keep a lot of seals per pool area. The seals also tend to cluster on one half of their pools as people can feed them fish and they want to stay near the snacks, this clustering might have caused them to look more crowded. Some of these seals are non-releasable rescues, and the aquarium does participate in local seal rescue and has some rehab/isolation pools for seals (not shown close up in this video, but they are directly to the left of the bearded seal).

Stellar Sea Lions
These sea lions have access to the largest open air ocean pools at the aquarium, the pools appear to be quite deep and long, and did not appear over crowded. They also have access to natural rocks to climb and rest on, and would use their 'diving boards' on their own to rest and jump without trainers or snack incentives. The sea lions appeared to have the 'best' habitat in terms of access to space and enrichment while not being too crowded.

Bearded Seal
They have one bearded seal, this is a very rare seal species to see in captivity, and is quite a large species of seal. You can see for yourself the pool and resting area they have access to.

Ringed Seals
The aquarium currently has 2 ringed seals, a rare type of seal to see in an aquarium. These seals are in a separate 'indoor/outdoor' house (the building with the giant baby seal face painted on the outside). These seals currently have access to two pools. The swim area is on the larger side when compared to other aquariums in Japan. This might actually be the largest swim area habitat I observed for ringed seals in Japan.
However, I did not observe any type of enrichment for these seals. There are no rock features, plants, balls, toys, hides, perches, etc. for the seals to interact with. You can see one of the seals trying to 'play' with a tiny piece of fish it had found in the water. They also do not use these seals in any type of show, so they would not receive enrichment through that either.

Fish Snacks
You can feed a lot of the spotted seals and sea lions, the aquarium sells fish buckets you can buy. If you're one of the 1st 10 people to buy a fish bucket you can buy a massive fish bucket with a lot more fish than the buckets they offer later in the day. You buy buckets in the outdoor area down the big hill past the penguins and near the sea lions. When the seals see you have a bucket, they will become excited and bark or splash their flippers in the water. They also do this when the keepers feed them, there are so many spotted seals that the keepers weren't able to do individual training with each seal (i.e. open their mouth, roll over, etc.).

Some Thoughts I had
Visiting Otaru Aquarium left me with complex feelings. While I acknowledge the rescue work they do and believe the animal care staff was working within their means to the best of their ability, my observations, particularly the barren enclosure for the ringed seals, and crowding of the spotted seals, highlight an ongoing conversation about animal welfare in captivity. True sanctuary means providing not just life, but a quality of life that includes mental stimulation and choice.

This reflection is inevitably colored by the tragic loss of Mizore, our beloved ringed seal who died at Otaru in 2023. His story is a profound reminder that our compassion for animals must include their psychological and physical well-being in every environment we create for them. I hope his legacy fosters greater empathy and pushes all facilities toward higher standards of care, enrichment, and transparency.

こんにちは！この動画では、北海道小樽市の小樽水族館にいるアザラシとオットセイの様子をご覧いただけます。
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まず、ゼニガタアザラシ（ゴマフアザラシ）がたくさん飼育されています。ほとんどは海を柵で囲ったエリアで、外気と常に新鮮な海水に触れられます。ただし、プールあたりの頭数は多く、餌やりの場所に群がる傾向があり、広いスペースがあるにもかかわらず餌場に集中していました。中には保護されて野生に戻れない個体もおり、水族館は地元の保護活動に参加し、リハビリ用の隔離プールも設けています（動画では大写しにしていませんが、アゴヒゲアザラシのプールの左側にあります）。

次に、オットセイ（トド）です。とても大型で、水族館内で最大の屋外プール（深くて長い）を利用でき、混雑は見られませんでした。自然の岩場で休んだり、自ら飛び込み台を使って遊んだりしており、トレーナーや餌のご褒美がなくても活動的でした。スペースと環境の豊かさの点で、最も良い生息環境に見えました。

アゴヒゲアザラシは1頭だけです。飼育下では非常に珍しい大型のアザラシで、撮影時はリハビリ用プールの近くにいて、そのプールと休息場を動画でご確認いただけます。

ゴマフアザラシは2頭います。水族館で見られるのは珍しい種類で、餌のバケツを売っている場所の近くにある「屋内・屋外」型の別棟（外壁に巨大な赤ちゃんアザラシの絵がある建物）で飼育されています。2つのプールがありますが、観察した限りでは1つしか使用していませんでした。プール自体は日本の他の水族館と比べて大きめで、2つ目のプールも含めると日本で見た中で最大の生息環境かもしれません。しかし、エンリッチメント（環境の豊かさ）が全くなく、岩、植物、おもちゃ、隠れ家、休憩所などがありません。動画では、アザラシが水中の小さな魚の切れ端で遊ぼうとする様子も見られます。ショーに使われず、餌やりもできないため、来客との交流や刺激が少ない環境です。

来客はゼニガタアザラシとオットセイに餌をやることができます。水族館は餌のバケツを販売しており、最初の10名は通常より多くの魚が入った特大バケツを購入できます。バケツはペンギンエリアを過ぎた大きな坂の下、オットセイの近くの屋外で購入します。アザラシはバケツを見ると興奮して吠えたり、ひれで水をかけたりします。飼育員が餌をやる時も同様で、ゼニガタアザラシの頭数が多いため、個別のトレーニング（口を開ける、回転するなど）は難しいようです。