Columbus Zoo; Sea Lions, Stingrays and More

On Thursday I went to the Columbus Zoo. I wanted to see what progress they were making with some of the areas they are revamping. So I visited half the park, and later in the summer I intend to go back and visit the other half.
This video shows the first area I visited, which has sea lions; they happily swim fast and play while you watch, first underwater and then above water. I watched at least one where they got real close to the glass as they go blasting by.
Next I go to a "house" where you can see the correlation between the animals and people; there I saw two skunks comfortable in their ball of hay, sound asleep. In another room was a bird with its head tucked under a wing. You'll also see two sand cats sound asleep in their respective beds :)
But the fun part is the place dedicated to stingrays. Now, all I could remember hearing about stingrays in recent years is how "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin was killed by one. Let's just say this building is a little different.
After you wash your hands, you can go to a large pool filled with stingrays, and they will come up to you so you can PET them! Small, medium and large stingrays, all happily swimming and playing and wanting you to pet them. In this video you'll see a child doing just that.
Sure blew my mind!
After that I went to climb the ramp to see sea lions leisurely swimming and sitting from our vantage point above. On the other side there were several swimming, with one raising its head above water to bark loudly.
This video is one of several I will be uploading over the next couple weeks; beginning next Saturday (6/15) I am going to the Columbus Air Show, so I will probably be showing more than two videos a week because of it. So stay tuned, and I thank you all for watching!

[@Davett53]

My friends went to a Stingray pool at The Chicago Zoo, and got to touch and pet them. They said the Stingrays reminded them of aquatic Portobello Mushrooms. With their similar color and soft bodies. I bet it was a fascinating experience.