Ellen DeGeneres becomes a virtual seal

LOS ANGELES - Before she takes on the

Oscars,

Ellen DeGeneres is going to frolic with some coastal wildlife. The 48-year-old comedian will become a "virtual seal" who heads up an environmentally conscious flock on the California Bay as part of a new Web site. The site includes an animated seal named after DeGeneres that promotes wildlife preservation as it shimmies along a cartoon seashore.

"I just think (seals) are adorable," she said. "I've always loved animals and I want to do anything I can to help."

DeGeneres is lending her famous name to Dawn Saves Wildlife, a Web-based program to educate visitors about how they can help save the environment and protect aquatic animals from pollution.

Site visitors can become virtual pelicans, penguins, ducks or seals and form "flocks" with their friends as they learn simple sea-saving steps such as recycling used motor oil and disposing of cooking grease in sealed containers.

The site aims to reach one million visitors, said DeGeneres, who will host the 79th

Academy Awards gala on February 25.

"All these things are so easy," she said, "that if we all did them, it would make such a huge difference."

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On the Net:

http://www.dawnsaveswildlife.com