Baby Sea Otter Comes Home to New York Aquarium

Baby Sea Otter Comes Home to New York Aquarium Daily News Jon Dohlin (WCS New York Aquarium Director): We received a call from the Alaska Sea Life Center that a young pup had been found stranded on the shores of Homer, Alaska. The Alaska Sea Life Center works with stranding work up in Alaska and they take in sea mammals to up down that part of the Alaskan Coast. We worked with them in the past. We are part of a consortium here in North America one of relatively few facilities that has experienced caring for sea otters and exhibiting sea otters successfully. This pop was a quite the child because he was so young, required round-a- clock care, was nursing and so they asked us if A: we were ready to take an otter which of course we were and B: if we could get somebody out there as soon as possible to learn the procedures, pick up on all of the care patterns and help acclimatize the animal and acclimate the animal to a trip to come out here. Nicole Piscotta: (WCS New York Aquarium Wild Animal Keeper): It was very exciting we got this phone call and the curator asked me to go out there and get to learn a tazo and learn what it’s like to work with them and how to care for them, brand new baby sea otter who doesn’t have a mother so it was a real exciting experience from the sea life center which is in Alaska. We had to drive to anchorage where the airport is and he did not want to be in the kennel so the entire time we pretty much sat on my lap. Jon Dohlin (WCS New York Aquarium Director): He has now gotten his vaccine. He’s been allowed to get outside so he’s been exposed to outside air and he’s completely healthy doing great so the next up is we’ll move him over here to our sea clips exhibits. He’ll get to meet visually and through smell faction are existing otter Jacob whose about 6 years old and if everything goes well then they’ll be allowed physical contact and get to know one another assuming that they’re socialized well together and they’ll get along great and they’ll get out here on exhibit and we hope that would be happening sometime in December actually. So we’ll see out here on public display hopefully before Christmas which would be a nice present for all our visitors here at the Aquarium.