California aquarium pairs stranded sea otter pups with surrogate moms

Every year, around 10 to 15 sea otter pups are found stranded off the California coast, often due to storms that separate mother and offspring. The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach is partnering with the Monterey Bay Aquarium to pair pups with surrogate sea otter mothers with the hope of teaching them life skills and returning them to the wild. As part of the program, the aquarium has successfully bonded their first surrogate mom, called Ellie, and a currently unnamed pup.

That mom is going to teach them all of the behaviors that we cannot teach, being people,' said Megan Smylie, the sea otter program manager at the Aquarium of the Pacific. 'That adult female will start to mimic behaviors that the pup should learn, will help it groom, will help it forage, will help it teach prey manipulation, how to open up shells and anything that they would need to know that humans are unable to teach them,' Smylie added.

Sea otters may be super cute and cuddly, but Long also says they are very territorial and are 'just a wolverine in the water.' Their eating habits are pricey, as they consume 25 percent of their bodyweight every day in restaurant-quality seafood. So a 45-pound otter eats 10-12 pounds of seafood a day. That means that feeding an otter costs the aquarium $40,000 a year and demands constant fundraising.

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