BOSTON (AP) — Humans can’t always recognize each other in face masks, so imagine the confusion that wild animals in captivity must feel.
At the New England Aquarium in Boston, workers who feed and train Atlantic harbor seals have been donning masks as a safeguard to avoid the unlikely scenario of unknowingly infecting the animals with the coronavirus.
Concerns rose last week after a tiger at New York’s Bronx Zoo tested positive for the virus.
And the New England Aquarium is next door to the harborside hotel where Biogen, a Boston biotech company, held a conference in February where dozens of people became infected with the virus.
“Everyone who is working currently at New England Aquarium is wearing a face mask,” said the aquarium’s marine mammals supervisor, Patty Schilling.