How Surrogate Sea Otter Moms Are Helping Populations Recover
Published on BayNature.com, July 2023.
It turns out sea otters are better than people at raising sea otters. That could be useful if the U.S. government decides to reintroduce them to their historic range.
In a small kitchen inside the Monterey Bay Aquarium, senior sea otter rehabilitation specialist Allie Bondi-Taylor prepares a baby bottle of clam-flavored milk formula, and then slips a black face shield and long gown over her clothes. It’s what aquarium staffers call the “Darth Vader” suit. The hungry baby otter in the next room is not allowed even to see a human face, lest he imprint upon his caregiver, or learn to associate humans or their forms, smells or sounds with food.
Identity concealed and baby bottle in hand, Bondi-Taylor enters through a door marked “Restricted Access.” On the other side of the wall, in a room adorned with sea otter mementos, a few aquarium staff and volunteers huddle around a monitor, watching as Bondi-Taylor scoops up a two-week-old sea otter pup, cradles him into her arms, and puts the bottle to his mouth. He’s a little young yet, but once he sheds his natal coat and hits a few baby-otter milestones (directional swims, back-to-belly movements, can feed himself crab and shrimp), he’ll be matched with a more suitable mom: one of the aquarium’s resident otters.