By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
Maya and Zoey are making a huge splash at the Wood County Fair.
The two California sea lions – not seals – are the featured stars of Sea Lion Splash, in a first-time appearance at the fair.
They dance. They balance balls on their noses. They give kisses, and they make the audience laugh, clap and cheer in daily shows at 3 and 7 p.m., near the grandstand.
Just like their companion shows – the shark and stingray encounters – the sea lions (and their trainers) are there to entertain and educate.
For the Wednesday night show, sea lion trainer Suzy Bartholo, coerced the seven-year-old Maya and 22-year-old Zoey with fish. They would do just about anything for fish, Bartholo said.. “However, Baby Maya is like a kid. She likes to play around and doesn’t care about anything, just swimming,” and fish, she said.
Zoey, on the other hand, “is so sweet, so intelligent and very smart,” she said.
They are two of the 17 rescue sea lions the company owns.
“Zoey was no longer capable of taking care of herself, due to injury, illness, or maybe she was a victim of pollution,” she explained.
Bartholo has been training both girls for three years. “Some tricks they learn in a day and others, such as balancing a ball, can take longer, like a year to perfect,” she said. “If you see these girls do something you like, we want you to clap, scream, make a lot of noise, show them what you like.”
Responding to the cheers and claps of a huge, standing-room only-crowd on Wednesday, Zoey and Maya caught hula hoops with their heads, played a trumpet, jumped through hoops, balanced a ball on their nose and showed how they could defend themselves if they ever encountered a shark, though in their plush home space with two huge outdoor pools and one indoor pool, that is not likely.
Education is a huge part of the show, with lessons about how to tell a sea lion from a seal, the importance of enrichment for the creatures’ quality of life, and the harm pollution can cause to the lives of sea lions and other marine life.
“Sea lions all across the world do come into contact with pollution. Things that we leave behind, soda bottles, plastic bags, things that these girls love to play with. Sometimes they can make a huge mistake and eat it,” Bartholo said.
After the tricks, lessons and waves good-bye, spectators could have their photos taken for a fee. The line was long of people who couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have a photo taken with a pair of sea lions in northwest Ohio.
Elizabeth Cohara and Kate Slane, friends from Bowling Green State University, were standing around after the show watching the sea lions get their photos taken with individuals and families.
“The show was really well done,” Cohara said. “The sea lions are so cool.”
“I am amazed at how friendly they are,” Slane said about the way the sea lions lay their heads on top of the individuals heads or shoulders.
“I hope my hair doesn’t smell like fish,” one young girl said after having her picture taken with Zoey on her head.
“Zoey loves to give kisses,” said Jeff Bechstein, who saw the show Wednesday night but went back on Thursday with his granddaughter. “It was a blast. I knew I had to have my picture taken with them, because when will this ever happen again?”
That was the justification that helped William Peet change his mind about having a photo taken. His wife, Tiffany, wanted to have a memory for the show, even if their 13-month-old daughter Hattie wouldn’t remember it on her own. A picture to capture that moment in time would be a lasting memory.
“We are so happy to be at the Wood County Fair for the first time,” Bartholo said. “The people here are interested in the show and have been really good about clapping and laughing and cheering for them. That’s important for us on this stage, that we feel the energy.”
