(by 42 people)
I became an orphan when I was only 3 days old. Luckily, some nice humans rescued me within hours. Otherwise, I could have died! They took me to the Monterey Bay Aquarium where I spent my formative months with my surrogate mother, Toola. Here we are in our private pool. (We were very close.)
Before long, I became a celebrity. Four times I made the front page of my local paper, The Monterey County Herald. Another time they put me on the front page of Section B instead. (What were they thinking???)
A friend of mine also wrote a story about me, and here it is.
Part I
In which I need a lot of rescuing.
Three times, they released her into the wild.Three times, she didn't seem wild about being there.
So three times, out went the folks from the Monterey Bay Aquarium to rescue sea otter pup 327.
Of course, it would have verged on the miraculous if 327 had gone wild just naturally.
"She was so naïve about life in the ocean," said Karl Mayer, animal care coordinator for the aquarium's Sea Otter Research and Conservation Program (SORAC).
Pup 327 was only 3 days old when she was found stranded on a beach near San Luis Obispo, CA. Rescuers searched and searched for her mother, to no avail. So they brought her back to live at the aquarium and gave her a new one - Toola, a veteran of the aquarium's sea otter surrogate mother project.
In the wild, 327's birth mother would have spent months teaching her the tricks of the sea otter trade.
In the aquarium pool, Toola did that.
Still, when a sea otter's not in the sea, her life is never quite what it should be.
Part II
In which you find out why I'm so important.
That's one big reason why Mayer and his staff are so dedicated to raising orphaned pups and returning them to the wild - so they can live the kind of lives they were meant to live.There's another big reason, too, of course: Sea otters are a threatened species. Early in the last century, hunting decimated their population. At one point, fewer than 50 were left in California. And although they've made a modest comeback, they face the continuing hazards of disease, pollution, habitat destruction, even intentional mistreatment by people.
So every otter out there counts.
And everyone had hoped that 327 would be out there counting as one more.
The surrogate mother project she was part of is intended to give sea otter pups an upbringing as close to natural as possible - which includes giving them an upbringing as far from humans as possible.
Wild sea otters show a healthy distaste for hanging out with any kayakers or boaters that happen by.
Rescued sea otter pups raised with too much exposure to humans often do not.
Part III
In which I become just a number (sort of).
True, 327 did rely on humans quite a bit. They gave her food and toys, not to mention a surgically implanted radio transmitter that would let them keep tabs on her after they set her free.But whenever 327 laid eyes on any of them, they were wearing Darth-Vader-looking - i.e., non-human-looking - disguises.
Not giving her a real name was part of that same distance-keeping approach.
For 327, the benefits of "just being a number" were probably minimal. But for the people who knew her, it was a useful reminder that, sure, she was cute and smart and totally lovable, but she was not a pet.
327 was the 10th sea otter pup raised at the aquarium with a surrogate mother.
Of the nine released before, five are either known or at least believed to be alive.
Part IV
In which I just barely hang in there.
The first time they released 327, Mayer and his staff had pretty high hopes that she'd be as happy as a clam out in the ocean.The second time, too.
But both times she swam herself ragged, and both times she fed herself barely a whit.
So she lost dangerous amounts of weight and had to come back "home" to regroup.
By the time they released her the third time, Mayer was less optimistic. He'd already decided it would be the last try.
If she didn't get the hang of things this time, he'd find a nice cushy aquarium somewhere to give her a nice comfy home.
Part V
In which I find myself (finally).
And 327 didn't get the hang of things. In fact, she did everything just about as wrong as she'd done it before.So Mayer decided 327 had been through enough.
"As of day three," he said, "we were actively trying to capture her." But they couldn't.
So as of day four, they were actively trying to capture her again, except even harder. They figured she had to be pretty darn hungry by then.
But what happened next...well...that's when things did sort of verge on the miraculous.
The rescue team found 327 all right. And that's just it. She was all right!
No one can explain why, but she was floating around by some rocks, chowing down on some crabs.
Like a pro.
Like that was just exactly what she'd been born to do.
Believe It or Not -- Part I
In which I ask you a question.
Loading poll. Please Wait...
Believe It or Not -- Part II
In which I answer my own question.
STOP! Have you voted in the poll? Please don't go on until you have!
OK, then. Here's MY opinion.
A. I AM very cute. But you know that - you've seen my picture!
B. I DO have great hair - the thickest in the whole animal kingdom. I need every bit of it to keep warm.
C. I CAN eat a lot and never get fat. In fact, just to survive, I have to eat about 25% to 30% of my body weight EVERY DAY. (I hardly have time to do anything besides hunting for food and eating it!)
But there's another problem, too. Some people make their living by fishing for the same things I fish for. They're worried that otters like me might eat so much there won't be any left for them. But really, I think there's enough to share.
OK, then. Here's MY opinion.
A. I AM very cute. But you know that - you've seen my picture!
B. I DO have great hair - the thickest in the whole animal kingdom. I need every bit of it to keep warm.
C. I CAN eat a lot and never get fat. In fact, just to survive, I have to eat about 25% to 30% of my body weight EVERY DAY. (I hardly have time to do anything besides hunting for food and eating it!)
But there's another problem, too. Some people make their living by fishing for the same things I fish for. They're worried that otters like me might eat so much there won't be any left for them. But really, I think there's enough to share.
The Kelp Forest and Me
In which you get to read a little bedtime story.
When otters go to sleep, they wrap themselves up in some kelp so they'll stay put and wake up in the same place they went to bed.So otters need kelp forests. But kelp forests need otters, too.
Here's why. Sea otters like to eat sea urchins. If we didn't have otters around, we'd have a lot more urchins. But urchins like to eat kelp. If we had a lot more urchins, we'd have a lot less kelp!
Sea Otters Rock
In which you hear about some cool tools.
Sea otters are one of the few animals in the world that use tools. They use "hammer" rocks to smash open shellfish on their chests. Clever, no? Especially because they put "anvil" rocks on their chests and do the smashing on those.Anvil rocks can be hard to come by. So if an otter finds a good one, she may carry it around with her under her arm. That way she'll have it on hand whenever she needs it.
Fittingly enough, Toola is an excellent tool user, which is one of the reasons she's such an excellent surrogate mother. She teaches her pups to be good tool users, too!
Making History!
In which my mom becomes a mom.
In the summer of 2001, an adult sea otter was found on Pismo Beach and brought to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.The staff at the aquarium's Sea Otter Research and Conservation Program (SORAC) named the new arrival Toola - for an obscure character in the novel Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck.
She was sick, and she was pregnant, and she was about to make a name for herself!
For quite a while before Toola got there, the folks at SORAC had been raising rescued sea otter pups and releasing them again when they were old enough to try to make it on their own.
And yet, once they got back into the wild, the pups hadn't been wildly successful. So the folks at SORAC had begun to think that maybe sea otters themselves would make better surrogate mothers than people did. And they wanted to test their idea.
"We just needed the right female," said SORAC manager Andy Johnson.
Enter Toola.
Toola was infected with toxoplasmosis, a neurological disease that can be fatal to sea otters. Although she recovered, she was left with an incurable seizure disorder and could never be released into the wild.
But she wasn't the only victim of the disease. It also caused her pup to be stillborn. So there she was - all ready to take care of a baby, but with no baby to take care of.
"It made us think, 'Wouldn't it be interesting if a pup came in the door?'" Johnson said.
And the next day, one did!
The 2-week-old male needed milk, and Toola had a good supply of that.
"So we introduced them," said Karl Mayer, SORAC's animal care coordinator. "...He latched on and started nursing right away."
And that's how Toola became the first surrogate sea otter mother, not only in the history of the aquarium, but most likely in the history of the world!
We Otter Be in Pictures (Sorry about That)
In which I show off some of my photogenic relatives.
Oops!--this sea otter almost put his foot in his mouth.
Toola adopted me. This sea otter adopted a seal.
There Otter Be a Law -- and Now There Is!
In which I celebrate a new law.
It's not easy being a sea otter, but a bill that should make it a little less difficult was recently passed by the legislature in California and signed by Governor Schwarzenegger. It's designed to make people stop doing harmful things (from killing otters outright to dumping deadly materials into the ocean they live in) and start doing helpful things (from doing research on otters to supporting such research with their taxes).
Maybe life will be a little less hairy from now on for sea otter pup 327 and all her relatives!
Maybe life will be a little less hairy from now on for sea otter pup 327 and all her relatives!
My Video Picks
In which I guarantee you minutes of viewing pleasure.
Sea Otter
Sea Otter
Spinning Sea Otter
Sea Otters Monteray Aquarium
sea otters at the monterey bay aquarium
Cute Sea Otter Training at the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Ozzy02
A Whole Otter World
In which I help you make some good connections.
- Monterey Bay Aquarium
- This is where I grew up. Everyone there loves otters. I think if you work there, that's part of your job description.
- Stranded Sea Otter
- When people found me stranded on a beach, they knew what to do to save my life. This tells you what to do if you ever find a stranded sea otter yourself.
- Oceanlink
- This is a good place to learn how to keep the world safe for otters (like me, for instance).
- Friends of the Sea Otter
- This group works actively to protect sea otters. Enough said!
- The Otter Project
- This group works to protect us, too.
- Kids Planet Sea Otter Description
- This page tells you the basic facts about me, the sea otter.
- Sea Otter Cam
- A live feed of the sea otter tank at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. You can watch my friends eat every day at 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. (all California times).
- Otternet
- Lots and lots of info about lots of different otters.
- Wikipedia's Otter page
- I know some of you really like Wikipedia, so I included their site.
I'm Not Fishing for Compliments, But....
In which you can tell me if you're hooked on my lens - or not.
I'm a work in progress, and so is my lens. Please tell me how you like it so far. And if there's anything else you'd like to hear about me and my relatives, please tell me that, too!
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KimGiancaterino
Beautiful lens. I've added you to my Feline Pine lensroll. Please help spread the word about the danger of Toxoplasmosis to California sea otters. ~ Kim Posted May 29, 2007 |
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CreativeArtist
I enjoyed reading about Otter 327, and so glad she figured it out! Posted October 22, 2006 |
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catgirl
I loved your story of 327. Otters are among my favorite critters. I look forward to more adventures of sea creatures from the aquarium. You made me feel a part of the adventure. Thank you. Posted September 15, 2006 |
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edc
A most enjoyable and well-written real life adventure story. I could definitely identify with the central character, because I, too, must spend most of my time Posted August 21, 2006 |
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dlavin
What a great story! I think this should be expanded into a children's book so Otter 327 can become a household name (and number). I hope we'll get to hear more about her adventures. Posted August 18, 2006 |
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AngelaHarms
Great story. I love otters. :) Posted August 16, 2006 |
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Dudley
A wonderful lens. We enjoyed reading all about Otter 327 and look forward to reading more. Posted August 13, 2006 |
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Elaine_Corvidae
Your lens is wonderful! Thank you for all the terrific otter information (and saving them), Posted August 09, 2006 |
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rockfish
My daughter and I enjoyed your story and thought the poll was very cute. We are glad there was a happy ending. Thanks for sharing! Posted August 07, 2006 |
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omh
What a lot of life that pup has had in such a short time. It's great that she found her way back to the wild and that she was so well cared for until she was ready to go back. I am glad I stumbled on this story and glad it all turned out well. Posted August 06, 2006 |
