Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium flipping with joy as it celebrates its first-ever birth of a sea lion

TACOMA, Wash. — Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium celebrates the historic birth of its first sea lion pup.

Zoo keepers are seal-ebrating the birth of a seal at the fa-seal-lity.

This new addition to the Rocky Shores area is guaranteed to become an instant seal-ebrity.

The female seal pup was born on June 6 and is the first in the zoo’s 119-year history.

First-time mom, Eloise, has been doing an ex-seal-lent job in her motherly duties and is slowly getting used to having a care team nearby.

“Eloise is a natural at parenting, and we’ve seen the pair bonding a lot already,” Curator Jen DeGroot said. “Eloise is protective of the pup and encourages her to nurse.”

This seal-ky smooth pup will spend the beginning of her life in the shallow end and will slowly be allowed to move into deeper waters.

“Soon she will begin to give her some ‘swimming lessons’ in shallow water,” DeGroot said.

This 17-pound pup is expected to nurse for up to a year before being introduced to new foods. No word if seal-lery or seal-antro will be on the menu.

For now, the pup will remain con-seal-ed from the public eye to spend quality time with her mother.

Guests can expect to see this pup later this summer and have an opportunity to seal-lect her name.

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