In this January 14, 2016, photo provided by the Monterey BaY Aquarium, Sea Otter Program, Research and Conservation staff member, Dana Cori, grooms a sea otter at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, Calif. The orphaned southern sea otter pup, found alone on Carmel Beach in Carmel, Calif., on January 6., has found a new home at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium. Finally, with approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the sea otter was flown to Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium, where it now leads a happy life.
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The Shedd Aquarium has a new fur baby. She was rescued by the Sea Otter Program team from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Another orphaned sea otter, Luna, made her public debut at the Shedd in December 2014.
The pup may have been stranded due to this year’s “Godzilla El Niño”, which has caused an unusual number of ocean storms that may have helped separate the pup from her mother, the Shedd statement pointed out.
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For the time being, she’s been dubbed “Pup 719” – a reference to how many otters the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s sea otter program has rescued since it began in 1984. The aquarium says they’ll give her a new name, although they don’t yet have specific plans for how they’ll decide on one or exactly when that will happen. Animal experts estimate she’s about 10 weeks old, and a team of employees is helping her learn everything she needs to know to grow up to be a great sea otter citizen.
