NATURE: Saving Otter 501

This is the story of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s 501st attempt to save a stranded orphan otter. From her discovery as a newborn pup crying on the beach, through her rehabilitation in secret roof tanks atop the Monterey Bay Aquarium, follow Otter 501 as she learns how to survive in the wild.

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A stranded southern sea otter pup is being assessed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Karl Mayer. This pup was brought in for further assessment and possible rehabilitation and release back into the wild. Monterey, Calif.

Courtesy of Sea Studios Foundation

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Otter 501 being bottle fed a special “otter milk” formula at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Courtesy of Sea Studios Foundation

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Otter 501 is ready to be groomed by Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Animal Care Coordinator for their Sea Otter Research and Conservation (SORAC) program, Karl Mayer. Karl is wearing the “Darth Vader” disguise used to isolate the human form from the otters that will be released into the wild. Monterey, Calif.

Courtesy of Sea Studios Foundation

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Otter 501 being carefully groomed as part of her eight-month-long journey to being re-released back into the wild, Monterey, Calif.

Courtesy of Sea Studios Foundation

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Otter 501 and her surrogate mom, Toola, at play in the tank 501 was raised in. Monterey, Calif.

Courtesy of Sea Studios Foundation

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Otter 501 gets a first taste of solid food – raw clams fed by Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Animal Care Coordinator for their Sea Otter Research and Conservation (SORAC) program, Karl Mayer. Monterey, Calif.

Courtesy of Sea Studios Foundation

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A sea otter mom grooms her pup in Monterey Bay, Calif.

Courtesy of Jim Capwell

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Toola the southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis), acting as a surrogate mom to orphaned SORAC pup #327, Monterey, Calif.

Courtesy of Randy Wilder/Monterey Bay

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Otter 501 being released back into the wild by Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Animal Care Coordinator for their Sea Otter Research and Conservation (SORAC) program, Karl Mayer and an assistant, Monterey, Calif.

Courtesy of Sea Studios Foundation

Watch as she is introduced to her surrogate mother — a method invented by marine biologist Karl Mayer and his team in 2005 — and follow as she struggles to learn how to dive, hunt, eat, and fend for herself in an artificial environment meant to mimic the “real world.”

It is a tale of mysterious threats, persistent failures and small victories, where survival is a long shot at best. Throughout, Otter 501 acts as a lens.

Her story reveals a previously unseen world of otter behavior and also acts to illuminate some of the most difficult ecological questions of our time: Do we have a responsibility to save species that hover on the edge? Are our actions the cause of the illnesses sweeping through the sea otter population? And since we simply can’t return the world to its pristine pre-human form, are preservation efforts like this doomed to fail? Otter 501’s survival may hold the hint of an answer.

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Saving Otter 501

California sea otters are struggling in the wild and no one quite knows why.the The Sea Otter Research and Conservation program team at Monterey Bay Aquarium are responsible for rescuing every abandoned or injured sea otter in northern California with the ultimate goal of returning them to the wild.

Saving Otter 501: Meet Otter 501

"A baby sea otter abandoned on the beach was brought in to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This is the aquarium's 501st attempt to save an orphan otter. Against all odds

Saving Otter 501: Intro of Toola

"Today is the day 501 will be introduced to Toola

Saving Otter 501: Education of Otter Pup

"Sea otters cannot even swim on their own when they are born. In the wild