Formal Presentations - Thursday
Abstracts
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Utilizing Positive Reinforcement and Operant Conditioning
to Teach a Rescued Long Beaked Common Dolphin Calf to Become Part of a 14 Dolphin Pod at Sea World San Diego Jenny Thompson SeaWorld San Diego Full Abstract
Cardiff is a long beaked common dolphin who was rescued on January 23rd, 2024, in Cardiff, California. He was estimated to be approximately 4 months old, and his initial weight was 27.6kg. Sea World San Diego’s Rescue team and veterinarian staff brought him in and provided round the clock care of him. He had sustained a break to his upper jaw and a significant degloving injury to his lower jaw before we got him, so the vets performed a major wound debridement on January 31st. On February 8th, he underwent another wound debridement procedure, and after several weeks his jaw healed. By the end of March, the Rescue team was able to stop with tube feedings and Cardiff was only getting fish. Cardiff was deemed non-releasable by NOAA and placement designated to SWSD, due to previous experience with common dolphins. With quarantine complete and Cardiff eating reliably from the pool edge, the plan was to move him to Dolphin Amphitheater to be introduced to another common dolphin, Bullet. Early training with bridge recognition paired with stationing and feeding was done prior to moving him. On May 10th, the Rescue and Dolphin Teams moved him out to Dolphin Amphitheater. We put him in a lowered back pool and raised the water slowly. There was a watertight in between the pools between him and the other animals so that they could hear each other first. It only took 2 days for him to acclimate and eat in all spots around the pool. So, we lifted the watertight and he then had access to view the other dolphins. He didn’t seem to care too much about the animals on the other side and we continued working with him on eating heads up, A to B’s and bridge conditioning. The Dolphin team and vet staff decided that the first two dolphins he would get introduced to were Sandy, a six-time mom, and Bullet, our common dolphin. When we first opened the gates between them, Bullet and Sandy tried to scoop him into their slipstream as they would a calf, but he was so fast and only tried to get away from them. After a minute of seeing this, we decided to close the gates between them and come up with a different strategy. It appears he was in flight mode, thinking of them as potential threats. In this presentation you will learn and see how Cardiff acclimated to not only Sandy and Bullet, but to 12 other dolphins, through positive reinforcement, operant conditioning and very small approximations. |
“SLEEP TIGHT”
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT TRAINING ENHANCES ANESTHESIA SAFETY PROCESS AND ANIMAL WELFARE IN SOUTH AMERICAN SEA LIONS (OTARIA FLAVESCENS) Alan Carmona Abraham Cardenas Dolphin Adventure Full Abstract
This presentation aims to evaluate the benefits of using positive reinforcement training to improve the safety and welfare of South American sea lions (Otaria flavescens) during anesthesia, eliminating the need for physical restraint and pre-anesthetic drugs. Four sea lions were trained using operant conditioning with positive reinforcement to voluntarily participate in the anesthesia process. The training involved familiarizing the animals with a surgical room and anesthetic mask. Key physiological parameters such as ECG, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, temperature, capnography, and anesthetic gas concentrations were monitored throughout the procedure. Full blood profiles were collected before and after the procedures. The trained animals maintained stable physiological parameters throughout the procedures and required significantly less medication. Sevoflurane, at a minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) of 1 (2.3% sevoflurane), was the sole anesthetic used, resulting in painless anesthesia and recovery times of less than 15 minutes. The positive reinforcement approach reduced stress and anxiety, as well as the risks associated with physical restraint and drug side effects. Positive reinforcement training effectively improves safety and enhances animal welfare during anesthesia in South American sea lions. By desensitizing the animals to the surgical environment and anesthesia process, this approach eliminates the need for physical restraint and reduces drug-related risks. |
AGE IS JUST A NUMBER:
THE UNDERWATER TRAINING OF A BLIND GERIATRIC HARBOR SEAL (Phoca vitulina) Riley Macgregor Alix Philos Gulf World Marine Park Full Abstract
Training and enriching a geriatric animal becomes challenging as the animal’s cognitive and physical abilities change. Gulf World Marine Park is home to a 32 year old harbor seal named Baby who is mostly blind. When we experienced Baby’s positive attitude and motivation change after she learned to participate in guest programs at her late age, we challenged ourselves to continue teaching Baby novel behaviors to help improve her welfare. Our initial idea was to introduce her to underwater enrichment sessions by desensitizing her to trainers in SCUBA gear and teaching her to interact with new underwater specific enrichment items. These underwater enrichment sessions evolved into underwater behavior training as Baby exceeded our expectations and flourished with more cognitively demanding tasks. Baby was already conditioned to verbal bridges, so we began our underwater training sessions by first conditioning her to a clicker bridge on land then transitioning it to underwater. Once she was comfortable taking a clicker bridge on land and underwater, we trained her to be sent from an A-point trainer on land to a B-point trainer in SCUBA gear at the bottom of a 14ft habitat. Since Baby has limited vision, she mainly utilized her vibrissae and hearing as she followed bubbles to locate divers. When her duration of stationing with the SCUBA trainer progressed, we worked on training a subset of her basic land behaviors underwater. After quick success of transitioning previously learned behaviors to underwater, we trained new behaviors using tactile or auditory cues. During the majority of her underwater training sessions Baby showed a positive attitude by seeking information with her vibrissae and maintaining station with the SCUBA trainer. Because these sessions seemed highly motivating, we found opportunities to apply the Premack principle with underwater training for advanced husbandry or historically lower probability behaviors. Underwater behavior training has increased her behavioral repertoire, increased her motivation in sessions, and allowed us to mentally and physically stimulate a geriatric seal to improve her overall welfare. We hope by sharing our experiences, trainers can utilize some of these training techniques for their own geriatric animals so that they may continue to thrive under professional |