New Sea Lion Cove Is A Hit At Tulsa Zoo

Spring break has started off with a splash at the Tulsa Zoo.

The newest exhibit in nearly ten years opened this weekend.

It's a $5 million exhibit that is attracting thousands.

"The crowd has been awesome," Sea Lion Trainer Kaleigh Jablonski said. "There's been a lot of people here and everybody is so excited to have them back, as are we. Everybody is just happy to see them out there doing their thing."

The new Tulsa Zoo Sea Lion Cove is home to Dorsey and Briney.

Three times a day, zoo trainers put on shows and give the crowd a chance to see these large creatures in action.

"They do tricks," Jacob Mercer said.

"I saw some of the sea lions get trash from the water and put it in the recycle bin," Thomas Petersen said.

"The basketball that the sea lions had it on their nose," Sara Petersen said.

When shows aren't going, you can see these animals from nearly every angle.

The one that seems to be the most popular.. the underwater view.

"It's great to see everyone's reactions down there and get to be able to get to see them really in their natural environment, how they really behave under water is a great thing to bring to people," Jablonski said.

"This is something no one at the Tulsa Zoo has seen before, including us that have worked here," Angela Evans said. "So getting to see the sea lions maneuver underwater, they're so graceful and so powerful and they come right up to the glass, you can almost count their whiskers."

On the opening day nearly 6,600 people visited the exhibit and watched the sea lions swim around in their 100,000-gallon saltwater pool.

Zoo officials are expecting to see about 10,000 people per day during spring break.