Baby sea otter escapes death to come to Pittsburgh
A baby sea otter that tried in vain to nurse from its dead mother on a frozen Alaskan beach is enjoying new digs — a nursery, otter-style — at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium.
The pup swam for photographers and gnawed on a plastic toy on Monday, and by week's end will meet the public in the lower level of Water's Edge, the coastal habitat area. Eventually, the staff will introduce it to the zoo's two adult male sea otters, Alki and Chugach.
"His feistiness, his nature, his attitude is why he survived," said Barbara Baker, zoo president and CEO.
Residents of Port Heiden in southwest Alaska found the pup lying next to other sea otters, including its mother. The otters died from exposure when they accidentally beached themselves while trying to cross the bay to the ocean.
The residents bottle-fed the pup with a milk substitute every couple of hours before handing it over to the nonprofit Alaskan SeaLife Center in Seward.
The zoo's partner, FedEx Ground, flew the pup with the zoo's marine mammal staff and a veterinarian from the center through Anchorage and Memphis to Pittsburgh on Thursday.
This is not the first time that Moon-based FedEx helped transport animals for the zoo. It flew in the adult sea otters and some sea turtles rescued in Florida.
"If we're able to help them, we're more than happy to," said FedEx spokesman Bryson Thornton.
The otter pup weighs about 17 pounds and is nearly 22 inches long. It consumes formula but eventually will eat shellfish and in adulthood could weigh 90 pounds.
"For nine weeks, he's definitely a big boy," said Dwayne Biggs, curator of aquatic life.
Baker said she might ask Pittsburghers to name the pup.
Sea otters can dive 30 feet and hold their breath four or five minutes, Biggs said. But perhaps their most amazing attribute is their fur; each square inch contains nearly 1 million hairs.
"It's close to the softest fur you could put your hand on," Biggs said.
The largest member of the weasel family, the sea otter is the smallest marine mammal. Those in Southwest Alaska are considered threatened because oil spills and other pollutants harmed their habitat.
