A sea otter pup was reunited with its mom in Morro Bay and the heartwarming video has caught the attention of many people on social media.
The Marine Mammal Center covers 600 miles of California coastline. The rescue organization recently received a call about an otter pup that was seen near the shore along the Embarcadero.
Team members from the Morro Bay facility were sent to the rescue. They took a small carrier, ice, a rescue net, and a Bluetooth speaker, recording a one-minute clip of the pup’s cries to play on repeat in hopes that the mother would hear it.
“Vocalizations are very important for pairings of moms and pups, so in this situation, we were able to identify the potential mom because of those vocalizations," said Aliah Meza, Senior Manager at the Morro Bay facility.
Eventually, the team spotted an adult otter following their boat around the bay.
“I would be on one side, she would be on the other, and then we’d end up on the other side. So that kept happening and her persistence of following us and approaching the boat was the really key indicator,” said Shayla Zink, Operations Coordinator at the Morro Bay facility.
After two hours of searching, Zink placed the pup, which they nicknamed Caterpillar, into the water.
“I definitely cried a little bit when she came up and got the pup. It was super rewarding, like top five day at work ever,” Zink said.
This was the first reunification in the area since 2019, but the Southern sea otter reunion was important for more than one reason.
“Southern sea otters are still a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, and currently their population is kind of hovering at 3,000," Meza said.
Meza said that because Morro Bay is secluded, the likelihood of finding an otter mom is higher than if a pup is stranded in the open ocean.
In a case where the mother cannot be found, the organization might be able to send the pup to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for its surrogacy program with their captive adult female otters.
“Teaching them how to forage and eat and act like otters appropriately in a way that humans just can’t teach them," Zink said. "They need that maternal care."
The Marine Mammal Center encourages people to contact them at (415) 289-SEAL(7325) to report an animal that's in distress. For more information, their website can be found here.
