Sea otters became the collective face of the oil spill victims – perhaps because, unlike the tens of thousands of seabirds that were fatally drenched in the thick, black toxic goo, otters stood the best chance of being rescued, cleaned and rehabilitated.

In response to the catastrophe, the aquarium sent Jim Robinett and Ken Ramirez, who then were in charge of Shedd’s newly created Marine Mammals Department, to the Otter Rescue Center in Valdez, Alaska. They worked side by side with hundreds of other zoo and aquarium professionals, teachers, environmentalists and concerned citizens from all over the country in a round-the-clock effort to save hundreds of oil-soaked otters.

The work was especially poignant for Jim and Ken. Shedd’s new marine mammal pavilion, still under construction, would feature Alaska sea otters –- the first ever in the Midwest.

The most touching victims of the spill were a number of newborn pups that had been abandoned or orphaned. While the goal of the rescue effort was to return rehabilitated adult otters to unaffected areas of the sound, the pups, with no survival skills, could never be released. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sought homes for these animals at qualified aquariums and zoos. When Jim and Ken returned to Chicago, it was with the news that the Oceanarium’s otters would be four oil-spill pups.
 
The rollicking otters – Chenik, Kenai, Nikishka and Nuka – became instant favorites when the Oceanarium opened in 1991. Fish and Wildlife was so impressed with Shedd’s success at raising the otters that it has since counted on the aquarium to take in other motherless pups. Ken Ramirez, now vice president of animal programs and training, said, “One of the most important upgrades in our Regenstein Sea Otter Habitat is the addition of a new pool designed especially for pup rearing.” It features a separate filtration system, a shallow bottom for teaching a young otter to swim and forage, and a staff observation window.

Of the four surviving oil-spill otters in aquariums and zoos, two are Shedd animals. Kenai, along with Shedd’s three other sea otters, is at the Minnesota Zoo during the Oceanarium renovation. Nuka has been on loan to the Seattle Aquarium for several years. At 20, they have exceeded the average life expectancy of a sea otter by several years.

As for Alaska’s sea otters, a new report by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council states that overall, populations have rebounded, but those in heavily oiled areas have been slower to recover. Much oil remains below the surface, and sea otters can be exposed to this lingering oil as they dig for clams. Several other species, including orcas, seabirds and herring, have not recovered to pre-spill levels. After 20 years, one of the lessons of the Exxon Valdez oil spill is that the natural recovery of an ecosystem is a complex process that can take decades, and perhaps centuries.

Posted by Karen Furnweger, web editor