<\/p>\n![\"Reggae,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1772076142_36_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Reggae, a 33-year-old Atlantic Harbor seal, clutches a rubber duck during a training session at the New England Aquarium, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo\/Charles Krupa)<\/p>\n
Reggae, a 33-year-old Atlantic Harbor seal, clutches a rubber duck during a training session at the New England Aquarium, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo\/Charles Krupa)<\/p>\n
Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n
Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n
Share<\/p>\n
Read More<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want to say, \u2018Bye, everybody?\u2019\u201d Wait asked, waving her hand. Reggae hoisted his right flipper in response and returned a salute from his trainer. \u201cGood, Bubba.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miller said Reggae appears to be unfazed by all the attention. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe describe his personality as very mellow. He\u2019s a very easygoing guy, he goes with the flow and he loves attention from people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
One family waved as Reggae swam toward the glass to retrieve a duck that Wait tossed near them.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never expect a seal to hug a rubber ducky,\u201d said 13-year-old Tom Smith of Boston, who was visiting with his mother and younger brother during school vacation week. <\/p>\n
The aquarium\u2019s Atlantic harbor seals are among its most recognizable residents, living in a 42,000-gallon outdoor exhibit on the front plaza. The current seals were born at the aquarium to parents that were themselves longtime residents.<\/p>\n
![\"Reggae,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1772076142_470_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Reggae, a 33-year-old Atlantic Harbor seal, taps his nose to a rubber duck during a training session with Liz Wait at the New England Aquarium, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo\/Charles Krupa)\n <\/p>\n
Reggae, a 33-year-old Atlantic Harbor seal, taps his nose to a rubber duck during a training session with Liz Wait at the New England Aquarium, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo\/Charles Krupa)<\/p>\n
Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n
Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n
Share<\/p>\n
Read More<\/p>\n
![\"Reggae,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1772076143_721_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Reggae, a 33-year-old Atlantic Harbor seal, rests his head on a rubber duck during a training session with Liz Wait at the New England Aquarium, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo\/Charles Krupa)\n <\/p>\n
Reggae, a 33-year-old Atlantic Harbor seal, rests his head on a rubber duck during a training session with Liz Wait at the New England Aquarium, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo\/Charles Krupa)<\/p>\n
Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n
Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n
Share<\/p>\n
Read More<\/p>\n
Many trace their lineage to Hoover, a harbor seal born in 1971 who was raised by a Maine fisherman after he lost his mother. When it became too expensive for the fisherman\u2019s family to feed him, Hoover was brought to the aquarium, where he later gained national attention for mimicking phrases such as \u201chello there\u201d and \u201cget out of here\u201d in a gruff New England accent.<\/p>\n
Today, seals at the aquarium often live beyond the roughly 25-year lifespan typical in the wild. Several have surpassed 30 and even 40 years, longevity the institution attributes to veterinary care, structured training and daily enrichment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BOSTON (AP) \u2014 It looks like pure play: a harbor seal gleefully chasing a rubber duck. But for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":504435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[16452,64,63,483,6045,17881,482,253501,12284,486,58648,253500,50440,128,164106,253502,488,18315,58651,338],"class_list":["post-504434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-atlantic-ocean","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boston","tag-climate","tag-climate-and-environment","tag-general-news","tag-liz-wait","tag-maine","tag-massachusetts","tag-me-state-wire","tag-rebekah-miller","tag-rhode-island","tag-science","tag-seals-and-sea-lions","tag-tom-smith","tag-u-s-news","tag-vermont","tag-vt-state-wire","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=504434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/504435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Reggae,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1772076141_416_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Reggae,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1772076141_196_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n