A mom sea otter has a great nursery in the ocean called a kelp bed. Before she heads out to forage for food, she wraps her baby in long strands of kelp, or “parks” it. The little otter is camouflaged amid the shiny dark brown algae and won’t drift off. Think of kelp as a sea otter crib. Parking is a common practice among many bird and mammal species. But to someone who doesn’t know that, a little lone baby sure looks abandoned.

The kayaker scooped up the pup and took it to wildlife officials, who probably heaved a frustrated sigh before delivering today’s lesson: Leave baby animals alone – mom knows exactly where she left the kid. Picking up federally protected animals, such as sea otters, is also a violation of the Endangered Species Act, which can bring fines and even jail time.

Back to Mari. Removing her from her habitat and exposing her to humans guaranteed that she would never go back to the wild. FWS called their favorite sea otter surrogate moms at Shedd Aquarium, and the marine mammals staff kicked into high gear for several months of round-the-clock care of the pup in a nursery set up in the otter reserve area. Happily, Mari was a healthy, playful pup who grew into a 60-pound, 3½-foot adult.

Hand-raising left Mari very attached to the trainers. “She would rather be with us than the other otters,” says Lisa Takaki, director of marine mammals. “She makes us laugh because when we finish our training session and start leaving the exhibit, she acts like she’s going to walk out with us.”

During training sessions in the hall between the habitat and reserve pool, Mari loves to play in a small pool – even though she has a huge habitat to swim in. “She loves to jump into little tubs of water,” Lisa says. Mari is also fond of time in the new 1,000-gallon pup pool. Through the pool room’s big window, and a window in the door of the otter area, she can watch all the aquarium staffers who traverse the hall beyond. On the day I visited the sea otters behind the scenes, Mari was bobbing up and down in the window to watch me. I did the same on my side, playing peek-a-boo with her.

“She’s very inquisitive,” says Indya Watts, a marine mammals trainer and lead of the otter team. “She’s always trying to see everything that’s happening.

Mari also loves the “kelp beds” – long car-wash strips that can either be floated in water or laid on dry ground. Mari likes them on land, like a bed. Lisa says, “She will hog the whole thing and not share with the other otters.”

Three-year-old Kiana is quite the opposite. Meet her tomorrow!

Posted by Karen Furnweger, web editor