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It's a boy! Rescued sea turtle helps with special underwater gender reveal

Ziva, a green sea turtle at SEA LIFE Arizona, was trained to choose between cards that said "boy" and "girl" to surprise the pregnant couple!

TEMPE, Ariz. — Creative gender reveals are so popular that it's become a bit of a challenge to come up with original ideas. 

One expectant couple asked the folks at the SEA LIFE Arizona aquarium to help surprise them and the underwater reveal made a big splash!

Paula and Josh Styskal didn't know their baby's gender so the SEA LIFE team worked with family friends on the surprise. 

Trainers at the Tempe-based attraction decided to make a rescued green sea turtle named Ziva the star of the show. 

They spent about three hours training her in a holding tank by using positive reinforcement. The trainers would hold a blue card that said "boy" and a pink card that said "girl" underwater. Each time Ziva chose the blue card, she was rewarded with some of her favorite foods, including lettuce and other veggies.

The turtle caught on quickly so the next step was to move her into the larger ocean exhibit where the reveal would be taking place. Even with all the distractions, Ziva consistently chose the blue card. 

When the big moment came the Styskals brought their daughter Pepper to the aquarium and they were thrilled when Ziva chose the "boy" card.

By the way, Ziva was rescued in 2010 after she was struck by a boat. Her injuries left her with buoyancy issues so she couldn't be released back into the wild after recovering. She's been at SEA LIFE ever since. 

The aquarium's Sea Turtle Rescue Reef is also home to an olive Ridley sea turtle named Donna. She was brought there in 2022 after she was found cold-stunned off the California coast. A shoulder injury meant she couldn't survive in the wild either.

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