Ollie Meets the Furball June 22. 2011
I love reading Hugh's blog at the Aquarium of the Pacific's website. It's fascinating to hear what happens behind the scenes when a new otter arrives at the aquarium. In his latest blog, "Ollie the Sea Otter Meets the Furball", Hugh recounts how the first meeting between Ollie the orphan and Furball went.
From the Aquarium of the Pacific: When the day arrived for the two to meet I was feeling a bit nervous. Would the Furball accept the playful roughhousing given by Ollie? Brook, the eldest sea otter in the exhibit, was the first of our exhibit otters to be introduced to Ollie. She was also the first to be pounced on by her. She had shown a great deal of patience dealing with the rascally nature of the young pup. Would the Furball show as much patience as the matronly Brook? Well as it turned out the Furball didn’t react like a mother otter when she was pounced on by Ollie. Instead she acted more like a big sister and playfully pounced right back at the younger sea otter. Ollie loved it! The two otters were playing with each other. Ollie and the Furball had each found a playmate!
Click here to read more at the Aquarium of the Pacific website
How Otters Help Us Learn About the Ocean June 4. 2011
Sure sea otters are cute and adorable but they're so much more than that, they're an important gauge of the condition of our oceans. We live in a world of convenience but you know we're being selfish when there's a giant island of floating trash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that's slowly poisoning our oceans and by our consumption of fish and other seafood we also poison ourselves. In a recent article in Monterey County's The Herald, sea otters are helping us learn about our Ocean.
From The Herald: Scientists can tell from testing the animals' blood the extent to which they've been subject to oil, parasites or other types of stress. They also conduct a stable isotope analysis of otters' whiskers to chart their diet over the course of a year.
So what can we do to help otters and our oceans? Recycle, don't flush your kitty litter, use reusable water bottles and do your best not to contribute to our polluted air and ocean. I know it's tough because we love our modern conveniences but they do come with a price.
Click to read the article "Otters Hold Clues to Coastal Health" at The Herald
Otter Released Back Into Wild April 15. 2011
From the BBC News: Animal lover Mrs Banks heard a "scratchy" sound coming from under the stairs one morning in April last year, and was surprised to find a furry face staring back at her when she shone a torch into the darkness.
Using a trail of prawns, the otter was tempted out from under the stairs and into a cat box.
Once inside, Mrs Banks called the RSPCA and the otter was taken to the charity's West Hatch Wildlife Centre in Somerset.
Paul Oaten of the RSPCA said: "It is not unusual for otters to go into houses when they are in as bad a condition as this little one was.
Otter Learns How To "Identify A Kate" April 14. 2011
Poor Otter had a scare when she thought Prince William was going to marry her arch enemy, Kate. Fortunately this was not her next door neighbor but another Kate entirely. Otter Keeper made this wonderful flow chart to help Otter if she gets confused again.
