A harbor seal that gained some fame by making annual Super Bowl picks has died at Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk.
The 35-year-old seal was named Orange and had been at the Maritime Aquarium since 2005. The aquarium said Monday that Orange had been undergoing treatment for cancer.
Orange was the aquarium's oldest seal. She was found stranded as a pup in 1982 and was rehabilitated at the National Aquarium in Baltimore before moving to Connecticut.
“We’re always saddened by the loss of any animal at the Aquarium, but seals in particular are hard,” Dr. Brian Davis, president of The Maritime Aquarium, said in a statement. “Our animal-husbandry staff works closely with these animals, day in and day out, for years. They develop a rapport, and understand each seal’s personality. Orange was a very special part of The Maritime Aquarium family.”
For the past several years Orange would predict a Super Bowl winner by swimming to the window of her tank and putting her nose on a picture of the helmet of one of the two competing teams. She was right two out of five tries: the New England Patriots in 2017 and the Philadelphia Eagles in 2018.
