Meet Toby: Aquarium of the Pacific's New Seal Pup

The first male harbor seal pup born at the Aquarium of the Pacific made his public debut Wednesday, joining others at the institution’s Seal & Sea Lion Habitat.

Through its Adopt an Animal program, where patrons donate money to care for the animals, 8-year-old Lola Castorina was given the chance to name the pup Toby.

“We thought it was a cleaver name for the pup,” aquarium curator Dudley Wigdahl said. “It’s a combination of the parents’ names, Troy and Shelby. It’s clever and appropriate.”

The three-month old pup, born on May 1, is the second pup born at the aquarium. His sister, Bixby, was born there last year. With his birth, Toby becomes the second male seal at aquarium, which houses five harbor seals and three sea lions.

At birth, the pup weighed 30 pounds. He now weighed 66 pounds and could weigh up to 250 pounds as a full-grown adult, he said.

While the California harbor seals are not endangered, Wigdahl said the animals serve as ambassadors for the museum to talk about marine mammals in general. They allow aquarium staff to talk to patrons about such issues as over fishing, oil spills and habitat loss, he said.