Alaskan residents can now use their free Alaska SeaLife Center admission on Wednesdays for a rare chance to see Siku the bearded seal.
The male, named Siku after the Inuit word for “sea ice”, is the center’s first of his kind as well as the first bearded seal to reside at a North American facility.
Those interested can view Siku during daylight hours at the center until the end of January 2015 after which he will be transferred to the University of California Santa Cruz.
There the Long Marine Laboratory will study him as part of a long-term study on the hearing sensitivity of arctic seals.
Those researchers are examining the cognitive and sensory systems of marine mammals above and below water and Siku the bearded seal will join spotted and ringed seals in the study.
Alaskans who would like to take part in the Center’s FREEzing Winter Wednesdays with receive free admission when they show their proper Alaska ID.