‘The boys’ are back in town: Harbor seals return to zoo

HARBOR SEALS BUBBA and Action lounge in early spring at the Roger Williams Park Zoo. The seals are in a newly renovated exhibit, thanks to a fundraising campaign. / COURTESY ROGER WILLIAMS PARK ZOO
HARBOR SEALS BUBBA and Action lounge in early spring at the Roger Williams Park Zoo. The seals are in a newly renovated exhibit, thanks to a fundraising campaign. / COURTESY ROGER WILLIAMS PARK ZOO

PROVIDENCE – Action and Bubba, the Roger Williams Park Zoo’s harbor seals, have returned from a New York retreat, of sorts, to a newly renovated exhibit.
In late May, the viewing window had cracked when water was drained out for routine maintenance. Further inspection indicated the entire wall would need to be replaced, leading to the seals spending the summer at an aquarium in upstate New York.
The zoo finished construction on the enclosure in November with the help of donations from the community fundraising campaign “Bring the Boys Home,” which raised more than $125,000 for the reconstruction of the damaged pool wall.
The two seals were in the renovated exhibit for the first time Thursday. Visitors can view them in their new environment daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the last admission set for 3:30 p.m. each day.
“The response to the fundraising campaign was overwhelming,” said Brooke Fairman, director of development at the zoo.
More than 8,000 people made individual donations at zoo admissions, online and at zoo gift shops. A few foundations, including the Rhode Island Foundation, and corporations gave gifts, and an anonymous donor provided matching funds of up to $50,000, Fairman said.
Jeremy Goodman, the zoo’s executive director, said the donations also allowed the zoo to install a better water filtration system, refurbish the indoor holding facility and apply a new surface to the inner walls and floor of the holding building. The upper viewing area also has been improved to enable visitors “get closer to the boys from the top deck,” he said.
The zoo, one of the oldest in the nation, is supported and managed by the Rhode Island Zoological Society and owned by the city of Providence.

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