GRAY WHALE FORMULA PREPARATION ON VIEW FOR SEA WORLD GUESTS
San Diego, January 29, 1997 - Having recently increased J.J. the gray whale calf s daily food intake from 56 to 63 liters, Sea World of California's animal care staff will prepare the formula at the nursery station at the park's Otter Outlook, adjacent to Rocky Point Preserve. The larger facility better accommodates the nearly three-hour food preparation operation and allows guests to watch animal care staff members concoct the formula for the California gray whale calf who beached two weeks ago off the Southern California coast. It takes two people nearly three hours to prepare roughly 40 liters of formula - a little more than half a day's food - for the calf. Between 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m., guests may observe how animal care specialists weigh and measure fish, milk powder and vitamins and blend them with heavy cream for J.J.'s seven daily feedings. "When you watch the process you understand why it takes so long and takes so much space," said Animal Care Supervisor Keith Yip. "Really, it is the sheer quantity of the formula that makes it so labor intensive. She eats a lot." he said.
Updates on J.J.'s condition are available 24 hours a day on the Shamu Hotline at 1-800-23-SHAMU, More than 11,000 calls have been received, and letters pour in daily from all over the country.
1997 Sea World, Inc.
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