The Aquarium of the Pacific welcomed sea otter pups that were rescued from Monterey Bay and is pairing them with a surrogate mother to learn survival skills.
Brett Long, a senior director at the aquarium, told KNX News’ Nataly Tavidian this is the first time in its history that the aquarium has been able to successfully pair a rescued sea otter pup with a surrogate mom.
“In order for them to be successful in the wild, they have to not be habituated to humans,” Long explained. “And so while we have releasable sea otter pups here that are paired with their surrogate moms, we maintain them in specially designed enclosures.”
There is a live feed at the aquarium so the pups can be watched without coming into contact with humans.
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Long said the other sea otters at the aquarium are “all orphan pups, or they were orphan pups. They're adults now that for one reason or another were not able to be released.”
Sea otter pups don’t instinctively know how to groom themselves or how to forage. Typically, they’re taught by their mothers.
The pup that was successfully paired with a surrogate was stranded in Santa Cruz. It still has a long way to go before it’s ready to be taken back to Northern California and released into the wild.
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