Welcome to the raft, Opal! ✨
We asked, and you answered.
🗳️Thanks to nearly 30,000 of you who voted in our online poll, we’re otter-ly excited to introduce our newest southern sea otter, Opal.
🦦Our team is already hard at work training Opal to join Ivy, Selka, and Ruby on exhibit.
💙They describe Opal as smart, sassy, confident, and protective–an otter that watches out for her raft. 💎 We can hardly wait for you to meet this gem; stay tuned for updates on the timeline for her official debut!
In addition to enchanting visitors and showing off for the exhibit live cam, Opal has a big part to play in the conservation of her species. Opal may act as a surrogate mother to orphaned sea otter pups as part of our sea otter surrogacy program. Though Opal was deemed unreleasable by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service after she was rescued as a stranded pup, she may give young pups a second chance by teaching them the skills they need to survive in the wild, like grooming and foraging.
Our work with sea otters has a real impact on their survival—and the vital coastal habitats they call home—as the two are inextricably linked. The sea otter is a keystone species, which means that the health of sea otters is a good indication of the health of other species and ecosystems nearby.
By releasing their adoptive pups back into the wild, our sea otter surrogate moms help restore California’s treasured kelp forests, keeping them healthy and thriving! Learn about the history of our Sea Otter Program and how protecting this beloved species has enormous environmental benefits for California’s coastal ecosystems.
