{"id":33333,"date":"2016-03-02T11:13:58","date_gmt":"2016-03-02T17:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=33333"},"modified":"2016-03-02T11:13:58","modified_gmt":"2016-03-02T17:13:58","slug":"otterly-awesome-shedd-aquariums-new-pup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/otterly-awesome-shedd-aquariums-new-pup\/","title":{"rendered":"“Otterly” awesome – Shedd Aquarium’s new pup"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Claire Donnelly<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shedd Aquarium\u2019s rescued sea otter pup is one lucky baby.<\/p>\n

Pup 719 – as she is known until she gets a name – arrived in Chicago this winter after turbulent waves stranded her on a beach in California. The orphaned pup received almost two weeks of care at Monterey Bay Aquarium<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cShedd was eager and ready to welcome pup 719,\u201d said Tim Binder, Shedd\u2019s executive vice president of animal care, in a post on the aquarium’s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rescuers found the baby Southern sea otter<\/a> early in January, lost amid crashing waves on Carmel Beach. They estimated that she was about four weeks old, based on her size, teeth and behavior.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The rescue team was unable to locate the pup\u2019s mother, from whom she had likely been separated in the stormy waters. The Monterey Bay Aquarium brought the otter pup into round-the-clock care and nursed her back to health. The aquarium began referring to her as \u201c719\u201d since she was the 719th otter retrieved by its otter rescue program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Monterey Bay\u2019s program places orphaned otter pups with surrogate mother otters so the little ones can learn important behaviors and skills. But when pup 719 arrived, all of the surrogate mothers were already caring for other pups. So Monterey Bay decided to send 719 to Chicago for her permanent home.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a very robust and feisty pup,\u201d said Karl Mayer, whose team spent many hours caring for her at Monterey Bay, in a post on the aquarium website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Southern<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) pup 719 behind the scenes with Sea Otter Program, Research and Conservation staff member, Karl Mayer, at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. (Tyson Rininger\/Monterey Bay Aquarium) <\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Southern<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) pup 719 being groomed behind the scenes with Research and Conservation staff member, Dana Cori, at the Sea Otter Program of the,Monterey Bay Aquarium. (Tyson Rininger\/Monterey Bay Aquarium)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Like<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Like all other rescued sea otter pups that come to Shedd Aquarium, pup 719 is currently receiving around-the-clock from Shedd Aquarium veterinarians and trainers. (Brenna Hernandez\/Shedd Aquarium)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Shedd<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Christy Sterling, Shedd Aquarium Assistant Supervisor of Penguins and Sea Otters, helps pup 719 dry off after swimming in the waters of the Regenstein Sea Otter Nursery. (Brenna Hernandez\/Shedd Aquarium)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

Mayer said pup 719 was slightly ahead of the developmental curve when she was rescued, most likely because she was able to spend more time with her mother than pups who are stranded as newborns. Sea otters typically spend up to nine months learning survival skills from their mothers.<\/p>\n

From the time pup 719 arrived at Monterey Bay, she was diving down to the bottom of her pool to retrieve food, rocks and shells, and was \u201cvery dexterous with her paws,\u201d according to Mayer.<\/p>\n

In Chicago, pup 719 has been receiving around-the-clock care from Shedd\u2019s staff, and according to the aquarium website, she now weighs about 13 pounds.<\/p>\n

The orphaned pup now grooms her own fur and is already skilled at hopping in and out of her pup pool without using the ramp. She is also able to eat solid food like shrimp, clam, squid and mussels. Her day starts with breakfast around 6 a.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019ll eat, then play, dive, be active, take a nice nap after all that activity, [and then] wake up and repeat the process,\u201d said Christy Sterling<\/a>, assistant supervisor of penguins and otters at the Shedd Aquarium, in a post on the aquarium website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just so fun to watch her explore with boundless energy,\u201d Sterling added.<\/p>\n

Not all sea otters are as lucky as pup 719.<\/p>\n

Today, the Southern sea otter species (Enhydra lutris nereis<\/em>) is classified as \u201cthreatened\u201d by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The animals are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act<\/a>, which prohibits the harassing, hunting, capturing or killing of any marine mammal.<\/p>\n

To have this official classification changed, the Southern sea otter population index would need to remain at 3,090 for three consecutive years. At its last count in 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey<\/a> reported a population index of 2,944, a minor increase from 2013\u2019s report of 2,939.<\/p>\n

The sea otter population was severely decimated as a result of the 19th century fur trade. In fact, California otters were assumed to be extinct until the 1930s when a group of around 50 otters was spotted off the coast of Big Sur, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.<\/p>\n

Sea otters are now facing additional environmental changes that may have an impact on their species\u2019 ability to survive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe waves have been enormous,\u201d said Mark Carr<\/a>,\u00a0 a professor in the ecology and evolutionary biology department at the University of California at Santa Cruz.<\/p>\n

These strong waves off the California coast are associated with El Ni\u00f1o<\/a>, or the periodic warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean near the equator. Violent waves can separate otter pups from their mothers, which could have happened in the case of Pup 719.<\/p>\n

Rough surf can also wreak havoc on the kelp beds where sea otters live.<\/p>\n

According to Nate Mantua<\/a>,\u00a0 a researcher at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u2019s Southwest Fisheries Science Center, El Ni\u00f1o causes these large waves in winter, a time of year when the ocean is already warm and nutrient-poor.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The] combination of nutrient stress on the kelp and the waves tends to be really hard on the kelp beds,\u201d Mantua said in an interview.<\/p>\n

If kelp cannot get the nutrients it needs to survive or is damaged by rough ocean waves, sea otter mothers and their pups can be forced to spend time in open water, offering less protection from predators.<\/p>\n

While the destruction of kelp beds could impact the sea otter population, the threat is not immediate, said Tim Tinker<\/a>,\u00a0 a research wildlife biologist at the U.S. Geological Survey Western Ecological Research Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere [are] still plenty of kelp beds out there,\u201d Tinker said. He explained that, for the sea otter population to be seriously affected, the kelp beds would need to be depleted by 80 or 90 percent. Right now, the destruction is nowhere close to that extreme.<\/p>\n

Fun (and furry) otter facts<\/h2>\n