Dec
20

Today in Smithsonian History: December 20, 1980

Grendel the gray seal. (Photo by Jessie Cohen, as featured in the Torch, February 1981)

Grendel the gray seal. (Photo by Jessie Cohen, as featured in the Torch, February 1981)

December 20, 1980  Grendel, a 35-pound, 36-inch long gray seal pup, is born at the National Zoological Park, one of only 10 gray seal pups to have been born and survive in captivity in the United States.

The most recent addition to the gray seal population at the Zoo, is Rona, a female pup born Jan. 21, 2014, to Kara, who was born at the Zoo in 1983.

Learn more about gray seals and the other animals of the Zoo’s American Trail >>

Gray seal Rona, born Jan. 21, 2014, at the National Zoo. (Photo by Christina Castiglione)

Gray seal Rona, born Jan. 21, 2014, at the National Zoo. (Photo by Christina Castiglione)

Courtesy Smithsonian Institution Archives

 

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Posted: 20 December 2019
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