A blind 11-year-old harbor seal is coming to the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma and will be viewable at the Rocky Shores habitat starting this weekend.
Onion has been at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo for the last decade, but he’s transferring to the Tacoma zoo upon a breeding recommendation, the zoo said. He’ll be keeping the habitat’s two females, Riley and Qilak, company, and they’re already “getting along swimmingly.”
Back in September 2015, a 17-month-old Onion was found stranded on Herring Cove Beach in Massachusetts and rescued and rehabilitated on Cape Cod before being taken to Cleveland, the Tacoma zoo said.
While he was at the Cleveland zoo, he got a serious eye infection that left him blind in the right eye and with a lesion in the left, making him non-releasable to the wild, the zoo said. He’s had both eyes removed since for his comfort but has “thrived under human care.”
The zoo noted it took care of a blind sea lion Björn, who adapted remarkably well with specialized training like recognizing tapping noises and verbal cues.
Onion will have some good tank-mates in Riley and Qilak. Riley, born in 2011, is shy and sweet, the zoo said. Qilak, born in 2004, has a calm, confident demeanor.
Visitors can see Onion and the rest of the trio at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium during his public debut Friday through Sunday.
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