Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
AN UNEXPECTED DISTRACTION
Early in 1981, with opening day still three-plus years o¤, the en-
tire Monterey Bay Aquarium sta¤ consisted of nine employees,
and we were all busy focusing on our particular tasks.
Julie Packard and Steve Webster spent a great deal of time spread-
ing the word in the community about the up-and-coming aquar-
ium. Showing a well-used set of slides, they gave countless talks
to just about any civic group around the Monterey Peninsula that
wanted to hear about their project. They wore many hats during
this time, chief among them being marketing and public relations.
Together with Robin Burnett, Chuck Baxter, and Steve, I was
compiling and finalizing the species lists, developing appropriate
tanks for each exhibit, and designing the seawater systems. I was
also starting to think about the monumental challenge of collecting
and caring for all these creatures.
Our focus was suddenly disrupted with the arrival of an unex-
pected visitor, an orphaned sea otter pup that someone had found
on the beach. Even though we didn't exist yet as a real aquarium,
with real seawater or real tanks, apparently the community con-
sidered us a real aquarium and therefore we must be the place to
take a baby otter.
There are few creatures in this world as appealing as a sea ot-
ter pup, and we were all captivated by it. Unfortunately, only one
of us, Dr. Tom Williams— our veterinarian, who was helping de-
sign our sea otter exhibit—had ever seen an otter pup close up,
and even his experience with young otters was limited.
Experienced or not, our hearts were stolen by this furry little
bundle, and we would do anything we could for it. Until now,
however, virtually all rescued sea otter pups had died, with the
notable exception of one raised by Dean and Bertha Tyler at the
Morro Bay Aquarium.
Although the odds were against us, we all hoped that because
this was our otter, it would survive. He was a male, about a month
or two old, and he was already able to take small pieces of solid
Search WWH ::




Custom Search