Sea Notes

A Big Day for Otter 451: Part Three

(This is the final part in our series about a southern sea otter pup—known only as 451—that was abandoned on a Santa Cruz county beach and reared by a surrogate mother at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Read the first and second articles.)

Just two days after being released into Elkhorn Slough, otter 451 is struggling. Confused and hungry, he starts pacing back and forth in narrow channels, looking for food. At one point, he tries to hike overland to get to another part of the Slough.

That’s when Karl Mayer of Sea Otter Research and Conservation (SORAC) decides to go after him.

“He’d lost focus,” says Karl. “He was just burning energy—not successfully foraging.” Out in the Slough, a young otter can become dangerously weak, get into a place where he can’t be captured—or both. “The stress was mounting,” says Karl. “He was acquiring information and knowledge about the area, but he was also losing weight. Timing is critical.”

Decision made, Karl and a volunteer set off in thigh-deep mud, nets in hand, trying not to have their boots sucked off in the murky depths. The trick is to “sneak up on the otter before he realizes what you’re trying to do,” says Karl. Successfully netted, the 45-pound otter struggles all the way back across the mud flats to the boat. “He was not a happy guy,” says Karl. “He was still robust enough to show some energy.”

Back at the Aquarium, it becomes clear that it was a good idea to recapture 451. During his two days in the Slough, he’d lost more than six pounds—or almost 14 percent of his body weight. He couldn’t have gone too much longer without food.

After a brief quarantine period (customary for animals that have been in the wild), 451 is returned to a familiar environment: the Aquarium’s rooftop SORAC facility. The goal is simple: fatten him up for re-release. Turns out, that’s not hard to do. It takes less than a week for 451 to regain the weight he’d lost rummaging around in the Slough.

Before long, it’s time to try again. Otter 451 is taken back out in the Slough and released. Almost immediately, it’s apparent that he has a new mission in life. He’s picking up small crabs and eating them, mingling with other otters, and staying within the confines of the Slough—all good signs.

No one knows for sure why many otters require a second release, but it likely involves an age-old concept: the school of hard knocks. “There’s the experience of having lost weight, and potentially coming close to starvation, that acts as a trigger,” says Karl. “They realize that food is not going to just appear in a big pile like it does in the Aquarium’s holding facility.”

At this point, the team breathes a collective sigh of relief. The first two weeks of a release are the most critical, as pups figure out how to find food and survive in an unfamiliar environment. After that, they tend do well. Among nine surrogate-reared otters surviving the two-week release period, only one has died within the first year – and that was due to “shark trauma.”

From this point, 451 becomes part of the SORAC’s long-term study of surrogate-reared pups in the wild. It’s another success story, and another small step in helping solve the mystery of the threatened southern sea otter.

“We’re glad this guy stayed in the Slough and figured it out,” says Karl.

CSI: Sea Otters

Dr. Melissa Miller has spent most of her career looking at sea otters. Well who wouldn't want that job? Except that she is a pathologist, and spends her day digging around inside the carcasses of dead sea otters to figure out what contributed to their demise.

She's a busy lady unfortunately. On average, 10% of the California sea otter population washes up dead on our state's beaches. That's an unsustainable number by anyone's definition, and especially when you consider that many of these animals are of an age considered to be the prime of their lives.

Dr. Miller's job is to put the pieces of the puzzle together and try to figure out not only how did this animal die, but how did it live. How it spent its time - where it foraged and what it fed on - may help us to understand why it succumbed to infectious disease, as over 40% of these animals do each year. Another statistic unheard of in a wild animal population.

Sometimes she gets a helping hand, when the animal is one that's been part of a study by the Aquarium's Sea Otter Research and Conservation program (SORAC). These animals may be tagged, or have radio transmitters. Chances are the SORAC staff can tell Dr. Miller a lot about the feeding preferences of these animals and their favorite hang outs.

Though the "death chart" shows that sea otters die from a myriad of causes, Dr. Miller's summation is simply "environmental degradation." A host of issues, thrown at one species and a daily struggle for survival in troubled waters. She thinks the resolution lies not in an attempt to solve each cause of mortality, but instead to step back and consider the bigger picture. Questions such as how should we properly dispose of our waste water - whether it's laden with chemicals, parasites, bacteria or animal waste. Issues such as restoring wetlands, natures natural filter system, that we have turned into salt mines or paved over.

Sea otters are clearly showing us that the sea is directly connected to the land, and what we do up here, directly impacts their food supply and environment. The food they eat, is the food we like to eat. Sea otters are demonstrating that the impacts of living and feeding in our nearshore coastal ecosystem can be fatal. For our sake, if not theirs, this is a clarion call we must heed.

Hear Dr. Miller in her own words, and check out "What's Killing California Sea Otters" to learn more about the threats they face and the work that California Department of Fish and Game is doing. As a state agency, this crucial work is greatly underfunded. The California Sea Otter Fund - a tax check-off option on California State Income Tax Returns - has helped to fund a staff member in Dr. Miller's office. Thanks to contributions from people like you, the Fund will continue for another year. Visit our website to learn more about how these contributions are being utilized.

An Otter Among Penguins

Seems a former Monterey Bay Aquarium otter has found a home in New York -- at least the fictional New York zoo where the penguins from the Madagascar animated films now reside.

Her name's Marlene, and she looks a lot more like a river otter than any sea otter I've ever seen. But her original home is in Northern California, specifically here at the aquarium, according to one of the creators of The Penguins of Madagascar, a new animated series on Nickelodeon.

It's a huge hit for the network: Most-watched series premiere ever (6.1 million viewers), and already extended for 26 more episodes beyond the initial 26 that Nickelodeon ordered.

Marlene has more than a bit role in the series. Lots of buzz out there about a possible romantic connection between her and Skipper!

Hmmm, now that she's so famous, I wonder if there's any chance she'll invite Herbie Hippocampus out for a visit? She definitely should stop by Wild About Otters to see her cousins before it the exhibit closes on September 13.