“Otters & Their Waters” to open Feb. 26
Are you ready to meet your new neighbors? Huck, Pippi and Jane, the three North American river otters who will appear in Mote’s new special exhibit “Otters & Their Waters,” are ready to meet you soon! The new exhibit will be open to the public Friday, Feb. 26.
“We are thrilled that the public will be able to enjoy our river otters in this new special exhibit very soon,” said Evan Barniskis, Assistant Vice President for Mote Aquarium. “This exhibit is going to be a lot of fun, as the otters are very charismatic, and it will educate our guests about watersheds habitats that not many people know are vitally important to our oceans.”
“Otters & Their Waters” will provide an otter’s-eye view of their watershed homes. Watersheds — lands that drain water toward rivers, estuaries and the sea — are important to people and myriad wildlife, including river otters, their prey and many animals from land to the coastal oceans where Mote Marine Laboratory scientists carry out their research.
Visitors will see river otters that were orphaned too young to survive alone and were raised by wildlife rehabilitators. At the exhibit, Mote’s animal care specialists will work with the otters and educate guests during narrated training sessions twice a day about the otters, where they came from, what they eat, why keeping watersheds healthy is important, and how and why they are trained
“The most important reason why we train our animals is for their own health and safety, and to allow us to provide the best care possible,” said Amanda Foltz, Staff Biologist who helps care for the otters. “We teach them basic behaviors such as going to a target, which helps lead them to specific locations as needed, such as when we need them to go to a certain area to give them a regular health checkup.”
The station target for Huck is a small, plush eight ball, Pippi’s is a small, plush soccer ball and Jane’s is a small, plush basketball.
The otters will also learn other behaviors that will allow Mote staff to provide them excellent health care, such as presenting parts of their bodies for checkups or entering a crate to be weighed.
The otters arrived in late December to their temporary home behind the scenes at Mote, where caregivers are preparing them to live in their new public exhibit.
“Since the otters arrived, we have learned a lot about them,” Foltz said. “Each one has their own personality. Huck is energetic and loves the water. Jane loves to roll around in sand and Pippi is the youngest and she is the calmest. They are beautiful animals and I hope as ambassadors for their watershed homes at Mote, the otters and their exhibit will shed some light on what we can do to help preserve our watersheds.”
The much anticipated public introduction of the Aquarium’s river otter exhibit marks the fifth in a series of special exhibits, following on the successes of “Penguin Island,” “Sea Lions: On the Water’s Edge,” “Survivors” and “Oh Baby! Life Cycles of the Seas.” (“Oh Baby!” remains open.)
“Otters & Their Waters” will be open during normal hours, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. seven days per week, at Mote Aquarium, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway in Sarasota, Fla. The exhibit will be located at Mote’s Ann and Alfred Goldstein Marine Mammal Research and Rehabilitation Center.
This exhibit is paid for in part by Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax revenues and exhibit sponsors Alfred Goldstein & Jean Weidner Goldstein, Jane Graham Hyslop, James & Pati Ericson, Howard & Nancy Cobin, New Amsterdam Charitable Foundation, PNC Wealth Management, BMO Harris Bank, PGT Industries Wholers Family Foundation and Herald-Tribune Media Group.
To sponsor or donate to “Otters & Their Waters,” contact Erin Knievel at 941-388-4441, ext. 415 or eknievel@mote.org