Stranded Sea Otter Pup Doing Well at Alaska SeaLife Center

A female baby otter was discovered stranded on a Kachemak Drive, Homer Spit at the tip of the Kenai Peninsula on Wednesday.

The Alaska SeaLife Center has admitted the sea otter pup to the I.Sea.U critical care unit.

Multiple callers to the Center's Stranding Hotline reported the sea otter pup on the road near Mud Bay at the base of the Homer spit.  The Homer Stranding Network, a group of ASLC volunteers who are trained to assist with this type of situation, was called by the Center to investigate.  The team went on a hunt to locate the mother, but were unsuccessful, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) authorized the pup's rescue.

The six to eight weeks old sea otter pup weighs almost eight pounds.

Stranding Coordinator Tim Lebling reports that the pup "is doing well, eating 35 percent of her body weight daily from a bottle, and interacting with enrichment items."

The USFWS will determine the placement location for this animal, and the otter's stay at the Center is expected to be short.  Alaskans who are wishing to see the otter can visit before the end of October

"We have no federal or state funding to care for stranded sea otters, and we rely on donations to keep this program going. We thank Shell Exploration and Production, ConocoPhillips Alaska, and BP Alaska for their generous contributions earlier this year in support of wildlife rescue," said Tara Riemer Jones, president and CEO.  "It was a very active summer for our stranding program, and our financial resources to continue this work are depleted."

Once a stranded marine mammal is admitted to the ASLC, it receives care from experienced and dedicated veterinary and animal care staff.