Sea Lions

Sea Lions. Roger Williams Park. , This area, known as the Seal House and Seal Pool, was built in 1938 when there was momentum to have animals located throughout the Park. However, those names do not reflect the actual occupants of this area–sea lions., Both sea lions and seals belong to a group of marine mammals known as pinnipeds, meaning fin-footed. While both have furry streamlined bodies and flippers that help them move through water, large eyes that can see on land and in water, and ears that can hear better in water than in air, they have distinct differences., A sea lion can walk on land and up on their flippers in a much more graceful manner than the belly wiggle of the seal, whose flippers cannot hold them up. Sea lions tend to be noisy with their barking, while seals tend to be much quieter. Sea lions have small flaps for outer ears, while seals lack external ears altogether. Lastly, sea lions are more social than seals, who spend more time in the water., Information and photos courtesy of the RWP Museum of Natural History archives, the RWP Zoo, and "The Jewel of Providence" by David Marshall., [Captions] , Pictured above, Superintendent Martin F. Noonan releases a sea lion into the pool; a crowd starts to gather around the pool as shown in a postcard from the 1940s. To the left, a sea lion walks up on its flippers-perhaps it is Rhoda, a sea lion that escaped in 1946!, Special Thanks , The sculptures were funded by the Rhode Island Foundation's Campaign for Roger William Park, as part of their centennial celebration in 2016. They were designed by artist Denise Auger and fabricated by Chris Dixon., Many thanks to Joe Pari and Richard Davia for their support of this project.