It's not particularly common for wild otters to wander in and out of the Monterey Bay Aquarium's tidal pool, and when an otter started to do just that this week, aquarium staff were hoping that she wasn't sick. As it turns out, she wasn't sick at all - she was just pregnant, and she gave birth right in the pool on Dec. 20, said The Monterey Bay Aquarium, according to its website.
It seems that the otter had decided to go into the tidal pool at the California attraction because storms and tumultuous waters had made for a bit of an unwelcoming, hectic birthing environment in the ocean, said Dan Albro, an aquarium trainer, noted USA Today. Luckily, she was close to the aquarium and went in and gave birth overnight. The next morning, staff found the new baby otter resting on its mother's belly, umbilical cord still attached, reported USA Today.
The mother has been taking care of the cub ever since, grooming it meticulously. The aquarium had no plans to evict the little otter family but said it's common for otters to leave after a few days to search for food, USA Today reported. The otters left the pool on Dec. 22 and are back in the bay, said the aquarium on its Twitter account.
After snoozing overnight in our Great Tide Pool, mom & pup are back in the bay. Hope we'll see them again soon! pic.twitter.com/bbFi42AsZ4
— Monterey Aquarium (@MontereyAq) December 22, 2015
The aquarium said that witnessing the birth of a new otter is a victory for California conservation efforts, seeing as there were only 50 left in the 1800s. Now, there are roughly 3,000 in central California alone, the aquarium said on its website.
