Aquarium of the Pacific

Thursday, July 02, 2009

SEA OTTER ICE ENRICHMENT by Hugh

Hugh Ryono

Brooke the sea otter enjoys a pile of snow brought out for her enjoyment at the Aquarium of the Pacific.

Southern Sea Otters, aka California Sea Otters, like the one’s on exhibit at the Aquarium of the Pacific, never experience snow or ice in their natural habitat. Just like native Southern Californians going up to the mountains to experience a real winter for the first time, romping around ice and snow holds a strange fascination for the otters. One of the enrichment activities we do with our otters is to place big batches of ice or snow in the exhibit for them to explore. Playing in this artificial “Winter Wonderland” is actually one of their most favorite activities. They will dig through it, hold it in their paws, rub their bodies in it and even throw pieces of it into the air. Check out the video below to see one of our otters enjoying her ice patch.