On May 7, the young sea otter pup was found stranded alongside her mother in San Luis Obispo County. According to rescuers on the scene, it looked as though mom had sustained serious shark bite injuries.
The mother otter had expelled a great deal of energy in her efforts to get her offspring safely to shore. Sadly, the heroic otter mom lost a lot of blood and did not survive the emergency trip to the Marine Mammal Center hospital only 30 miles away.
Bill Hunnewell
Fortunately, Langly was close to weaning age, so the switch from mom’s milk to a grown-up sea otter diet of scallops, crabs, shrimp and other crustaceans was imminent. The vets guessed she had been eating some of these foods already and would be a good candidate to make the full transition. After some trouble figuring out how to crack open the shellfish on her own, the team of animal care volunteers made it their mission to prepare Langly’s meals — cracking mussels, clamshells and removing crab and shrimp legs — six times a day to facilitate her transition to solid food. Success!
The unnamed young friend (who you can help name!) was originally stranded in Monterey, California, back in February. She was only a few months old and much too young to survive on her own. The orphan was starving, suffering from a severe parasite infection, couldn’t keep herself warm, and having seizures. On top of all that, test results indicated that she’d been exposed to the biotoxin domoic acid, which can lead to heart and brain damage.
Sarah van Schagen
PEOPLE caught up with Dr. Cara Field, a Staff Veterinarian at The Marine Mammal Center, who assured us that although the three otters play and keep each other company, Pip cannot transmit toxoplasmosis to Langly or the other otter pup.
“Langly, her companion, and Pip are now all in the same rehabilitation pool at The Marine Mammal Center,” Dr. Field tells PEOPLE. “They are interactive with each other with interest and in a healthy way. Female otters are often seen together in the wild, so it is encouraging to see these normal interactions. Langly and her companion are both active and aggressive, which is very normal behavior for sea otters.”
Dr. Field says the Center has seen much improvement with the otters and is gearing up for their return to the sea.
“Each of the otters needs to be in good body condition before they are released back to the wild,” says Dr. Field. “The two pups will need to weigh about 25 pounds before they can be released. All three otters are still a bit underweight, but they are making good progress. Once they hit their target weight, we’ll surgically implant transmitters in their abdomen to track them post-release, observe them post-op for healing, and then release them. Release will likely happen in the next one to two months.”
The Center is confident that the two youngest otters can thrive even without their moms. “Throughout their rehabilitation they’ve demonstrated that they can eat and gain weight without their mothers, so that is an excellent sign that they are independent and can thrive in the wild,” Dr. Field tells PEOPLE.
Dr. Shawn Johnson, Director of Veterinary Science at The Marine Mammal Center, adds “Southern sea otters are a threatened species, and the opportunity to release these females back to the wild is a big boost to the future health of this threatened population and surrounding ecosystems. Each of these animals presents an opportunity to learn more about the threats they face in the wild and continue to improve rehabilitation efforts for this sentinel species.”
According to a release from the Center, approximately 20,000 southern sea otters may have lived along the coasts of California and Baja California in the past, but not anymore. For the last 40 years, southern sea otters have been listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act, with the population estimated at just a few thousand. In May 2016, the southern sea otter’s range was reported as drastically reduced.
You can read more about The Marine Mammal Center’s rescue, rehabilitation and release work with anotter named Otto back in 2017 here.
source: people.com
