Nurseries, at least from the fables and tales we heard when we were young, are full of games, and toys, and a host of colorful, diverting delights.
But animal nurseries, specifically those created to help abandoned critters, have different components. Take the one at the Aquarium of the Pacific, specifically the nursery that serves the Southern Sea Otter.
It includes everything a young otter would need to thrive, including "round-the-clock care," nourishing food, and the attention and guidance of a female otter, a supportive surrogate to the baby.
A fourteen-week-old otter, recently found orphaned near Pismo Beach, is now under such attentive at the Long Beach-based aquarium. New photographs reveal the sweetness of this little tyke, an adorable animal that is set to join the aquarium's famous otter habitat on Dec. 28, 2021.
7 photos
1/7
Robin Riggs
The baby was recently rescued by "... trained responders from The Marine Mammal Center’s field office in Morro Bay."
2/7
Robin Riggs
"Government wildlife officials determined that the orphaned pup could not survive on his own in the wild and deemed him unreleasable," shared the aquarium.
3/7
Robin Riggs
The Aquarium of the Pacific stepped in and offered to give the little guy a home in its otter-focused nursery.
4/7
Robin Riggs
"When he arrived at the Aquarium a few weeks ago, he weighed about ten pounds. He is eating well and is now up to 16 pounds," Brett Long, Aquarium of the Pacific curator of marine mammals and birds, said.
5/7
Robin Riggs
"Caring for this young otter pup will further the experience of Aquarium staff who will be helping to care for orphaned pups as a participant in the Sea Otter Surrogacy program, which pairs resident aquarium otters with orphaned pups to teach them the skills to survive in the wild. The Sea Otter Surrogacy program is the result of a partnership with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which has rescued, rehabilitated, and released stranded sea otter pups since the 1980s," the aquarium said in a Dec. 21 statement.
6/7
Robin Riggs
"The new surrogacy area at the Aquarium of the Pacific is being built behind the scenes at its Molina Animal Care Center and will accommodate three to four rescued sea otter pups each year. 'Staff interaction with the orphaned otters in the surrogacy program will need to be minimal, and staff will need to wear special suits that distort the human form so these pups have a better chance at surviving in the wild,'" Long says.
7/7
Robin Riggs
Admire the youngster when he joins the more mature Southern Sea Otters at the Aquarium of the Pacific's Sea Otter Habitat on Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021.
