[bright music] - Now, if you had an animal superpower, what would it be?

Would you wanna soar like an eagle?

Or maybe be at home prowling around in the dark like our tiger, Berani.

Do you like to swim?

Would you want flippers like a sea lion or gills like a shark?

What about the strength of an elephant to knock down trees or the speed of a cheetah?

Maybe it's the ability to climb like our siamangs and gibbons without fear of falling.

If I had an animal superpower, I'd want gills.

I love to swim, and exploring the beach underwater would be so much fun.

Whatever animal superpower you choose, it's a safe bet that there's an animal here at the zoo that already has that ability.

In fact, most of the superheroes we all know borrowed their powers straight from the animal kingdom.

Today, let's explore those animal superpowers and the heroes that draw inspiration from them.

[gentle music] - [Narrator] Sea lions are like a variety of superheroes.

In water, their fur, shape, and powerful muscles allow them to swim quickly through the water.

For short distances, they can reach speeds of 25 miles per hour, the same speed as a car driving through a neighborhood.

With this speed, they can also leap out of the water up to 10 feet off the surface of the water, which helps them play and to avoid predators.

Spending time in the water is a piece of cake for a sea lion.

[bright music] Sea lions are also very smart and use a lot of different sounds to communicate or share information.

They can bark, grunt, or growl.

These sounds all mean different things.

An adult male sea lion may bark to defend their territory or space.

Growls can be used as warnings to other sea lions to stay away or to scare off threats.

Mother sea lions are so smart they can identify the call of their sea lion pup when they are all grouped together on the beach.

[bright music continues] All of this communication is similar to our favorite water-based superheroes sharing information and asking for help from the sea creatures they encounter on their adventures.

[bright music continues] On land, sea lions act more like a super-strong superhero.

Rotating their shoulders and hips, sea lions can carry themselves quickly on land.

For short distances, they can run and sprint faster than a person.

This takes tremendous strength as they can weigh up to 800 pounds.

They also have great eyesight.

This is a useful ability on land or at sea, both for finding food and staying safe.

[bright music continues] Meet Jonah.

He's our 23-year-old male sea lion.

And while he's a big boy weighing in at around 550 pounds this summer, he's super fast in the water.

In the wild, he could use that speed to catch fish.

Here at the Houston Zoo, some of his favorite fish are capelin and herring.

[bright music continues] Since sea lions live in the water, it's important to keep our oceans clean, and the sea lion keepers at the Houston Zoo are dedicated to helping keep our local waters as clean as possible.

[bright music continues] Each month since 2014, the sea lion team manages a jetty cleanup at Surfside Beach, Texas.

With the help of other staff members and volunteers, our team has collected approximately 583 pounds of fishing line.

You can be a superhero for marine life, too.

Next time you visit the beach, be sure to take your trash with you when you leave.

You can also be a superhero for marine animals every day.

Just by using a reusable water bottle, you're keeping plastic out of the oceans.

Gibbons have incredible arm strength.

For a gibbon, it takes very little effort to hold themselves up when hanging from one hand.

When they're swinging and moving through the treetops, they can leap almost 25 feet through the air with just the power of their shoulders.

That is more than the height of a full-grown giraffe or the length of a city bus.

[gentle music] Gibbons also have arms that are longer than their bodies.

This is great for hanging around in the trees, but it means that when they walk on the ground, they must hold their arms up so that their fingers don't drag in the sand.

Also, gibbons can communicate with elaborate songs.

Gibbons can make a variety of sounds to share where they are, what they see, and if there are any threats nearby.

The male and female song is different from each other.

Not only can they share a lot of information, but they can share it across long distances, too.

[gibbons calling] [gentle music continues] [gibbons calling] Gibbons can be so loud that you can hear them no matter where you are standing in the zoo.

Here are brothers Max and Murray.

These two white-cheeked gibbons show off their incredible arm strength as they brachiate through the treetops in their habitat in the zoo's Wortham World of Primates.

Brachiate is a big word for using their arms to swing.

When you swing from the monkey bars, you're brachiating, too.

[gentle music continues] Siamangs are another type of gibbon, and they're also the largest.

They use their long, strong arms to brachiate through the tree tops.

The most distinguishing characteristic of siamangs is the enlarged throat sack that can be almost as big as their head.

These throat sacks are used as a sound box to amplify their loud vocalizations.

The male and female partners sing with each other, and the male often swings through the trees during the song.

Often you can hear our pair of siamangs, Jambi and Berani, singing a duet in the mornings.

[siamangs calling] When they're not showing off their impressive vocal skills, they can be seen lounging around their exhibit, either on the ground or in the trees.