In the early 1990s, southern sea otters were nearly hunted to extinction.
After becoming a protected species, their population rebounded from about 50 in 1938 to 3,000 today, the Aquarium of the Pacific said in an April 11 news release.
However, “their population growth has stalled in recent years,” the aquarium said.
But in a moment of stagnation, there is hope.
For the first time in its history, the aquarium said it has paired a baby sea otter, rescued off the coast of Santa Cruz County, with a surrogate mother in hopes of releasing it back to the wild.
“We are thrilled to be able to further help this threatened species recover by expanding our conservation programs to now help stranded sea otter pups get a second chance at returning to the wild,” Brett Long, the aquarium’s senior director of birds and mammals, said in the release.
While in the care of the surrogate mother, the aquarium said the pup will learn “vital skills,” including “foraging for food and grooming their thick fur to thrive in cold water temperatures,” to be released back into the wild.
The aquarium said it has been home to rescued sea otters that were “deemed non-releasable to the wild” since its opening in 1998.
But in 2020 the aquarium said it partnered with the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Sea Otter Surrogacy Program and “built a behind-the-scenes facility for the surrogate mothers and these orphaned pups.”
“This milestone is advancing our work to help sea otters recover from being hunted to near extinction and help strengthen our coastal ecosystems,” Jessica Fujii, manager of the Sea Otter Program at Monterey Bay Aquarium, said in the release.
The new facility at the Molina Animal Care center will be able to host three to four rescued pups a year, the aquarium said.
The pups will remain behind the scenes with limited human interaction to increase their survival chances in the wild, the aquarium said.
What to know about southern sea otters
Sea otters, which are in the weasel family, can be found “along the North American west coast from Half Moon Bay just south of San Francisco to Point Conception in Santa Barbara County,” the aquarium said.
This, however, is only “a fraction of their historical range,” according to the aquarium.
Though it’s now a protected species, the aquarium said the sea otter is facing a number of threats, “including oil spills, pollution, and climate change.”
“Sea otters play the important role of ecosystem engineer for their ocean habitats,” the aquarium said.
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