Skansen, established in 1891, is the first open-air live museum of Sweden and one of the oldest ones in the world. It has a replica of a typical 19th century Swedish town and an open-air zoo hosting popular Scandinavian animals. It is located in Djurgården, Stockholm.
We visited this museum and zoo on the Christmas eve of 2014. My wife, who is an animal enthusiast, was most interested in watching the feeding of grey seals. These mammals live in the Baltic sea and mostly live on cod and herring. Their population have been severely reduced in the past due to increased water pollution and measures have been undertaken recently by several governments to protect them. At Skansen, they are fed with fish from the Atlantic where the pollution levels are lower. Some of the information above has been adapted from here.
The seals had webbed feet like fins which they were using as hands. The person in charge of feeding them was a bit late in arriving and they were anxiously looking for him all this time. Once he started feeding them by throwing fish, they would raise and wave their fins as soon as they were done. It was indeed a very special experience to watch the seals being fed!
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