Halo is a mature adult female harbor seal that got mixed in with mature adult males of the same species at Georgia Aquarium. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise to anyone that aquarium staff began monitoring her health more frequently in case of a pregnancy.
In this case, Halo’s trainers had their suspicions that she might’ve been pregnant. They began getting Halo accustomed to the ultrasound equipment by feeding her during routine faux check-ups in which the food was used to help Halo associate the medical equipment with a positive experience.
But while it seemed like a good plan at first, a significant flaw came about on check-up day. As it would seem, Halo was more accustomed to her trainers than she was to the veterinarians, and she wouldn’t hold still for the ultrasound. Instead of performing the ultrasound that day, the team decided to feed her and try again in the future.
A couple of weeks later, and after more training, the aquarium was finally able to get a voluntary ultrasound from Halo. While the training proved successful, the unfortunate news is that the ultrasound didn’t show any signs of pregnancy.
Better luck next time...
