This sea otter pup was found alone in Alaska. Chicago aquarium is its new home now
Pup EL2306
An eight-week-old sea otter pup was found alone in October in dire conditions in the remote town of Seldovia, Alaska. The Pup EL2306 was malnourished and was brought to the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward.
Now, he is in the nursery at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, which is one of only a few facilities in the United States with the resources to care for rescued otters. It arrived in Chicago at the end of November.
Alaska SeaLife Center contacted the aquarium and the aquarium's otter team travelled cross-country with the otter.
As quoted by the news agency, Lana Gonzalez, a manager of penguins and otters at Shedd, said: "Caring for a little otter pup is just like caring for an infant," including round-the-clock feeding.
Gonzalez added, "He also needs to get groomed. Sea otters have a very dense coat — there's anywhere from 700,000 to a million hairs per square inch, and that's what they use to keep themselves warm. They don't have a thick layer of blubber or fat like other marine mammals do, so taking care of that coat is very important."
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Otter babies learn lessons from their mothers, especially about grooming. Since Pup EL2306 was found alone, the aquarium team helped it by acting in the place of itsmother. The team encourages the pup's healthy development.
Otter supervisor Tracy Deakins entered the pup's habitat on Wednesday with clean white towels and persuaded him to leave the water.As per the report, Deakins pointed to various areas of his fur, and the pup responded by licking or rubbing them.
AP reported that the pup will remain in Shedd's Regenstein Sea Otter Nursery for a few months, building bonds with the staff. The pup will eventually be introduced to the otter habitat and the five other otters at the aquarium.
Gonzalez said, "Once we bring him into our care he won't be released back out into the natural environment, they're just too used to people. But the good news is that he'll be able to be an ambassador for his species here at the aquarium, so we're really happy about that."
(With inputs fromagencies)