A two month old female sea otter pup was found stranded in Port Moller after being tangled in a fishing net. The pup was brought to the Alaska SeaLife Center in July where she received care. Because of the intense care that sea otter pups need, she wasn’t allowed to be set free.
The Alaska SeaLife Center’s I.Sea.U is the intensive care unit. Unlike an ICU in a hospital this is meant to help the sea otter gain some independence. Because sea otters require such intense maternal care as young pups, when they are found this young they are not able to be released back into the wild.
Mammal curator for the Alaska SeaLife Center Derek Woodie says the goal of moving the pup to I.Sea.U. is to give her the abilities to take care of herself in captivity.
“We’re not able to teach them where to migrate to find food, how to fish and find different things. Right now we have staff that are on site around 24 hours a day, around the clock and that will continue for several more months. We have to have people there when she first came in, she was getting fed every two hours. We’ve backed that down a little bit since she’s put on a little bit of weight, she’s almost doubled in size. And we’re able to not do as much, she’s learned to swim, how to float and now we’re hoping that she’ll learn how to take care of her coat.”
Sea otters spend a third of their day eating, one third keeping their coat clean and one third sleeping. Woodie says the first two months the pup was at the center the staff was taking care of her coat and doing the things she has learned to do for herself.
Sea otters are a listed population under the Endangered Species Act. Because of that, after her time at the Alaska SeaLife Center she will go to a facility. However, that could take awhile.
“There’s not a whole lot of facilities in the US able to house and hold them. They’re very expensive to take care of, they like wonderful seafood, Alaska seafood. Clams, shrimp, different types of fish, squid. They are expensive to take care of and it’s a big ask for a facility to take care of animal like this. So we are looking for different facilities to be able to take care of her in the lower 48.”
Sea otters eat approximately 25-30 percent of their weight in food every day. Currently, the pup is eating sea otter formula and small amounts of solid foods. The Alaska SeaLife Center is the only permanent marine rehabilitation center in Alaska.