Teaching a Sea Otter to Hold Still #shorts

#otter #seaotter #kpassionate
I teach a sea otter to lay down. While it might look like this cute sea otter is doing tricks, laying still is actually a husbandry behavior that is critical to her healthcare. You might have heard me say "we'll get a nice x-ray view." Well, that's what I'm training here! The idea is to teach her to lay still so we can perform basic health care procedures like x-rays.

The same is true for when I ask her to open her mouth. That is so I can get a good look at her teeth. Sea otters have powerful molars that they use to crack into the hard shells of clams and mussels. While the shells actually help keep their teeth clean, by scrapping away plaque, they can also wear their teeth down. So every day we want to take a good look inside the mouths all of our sea otters to make sure their teeth are healthy and in good shape.

This sea otter is named Clara. She is a southern sea otter, native to California, where her wild cousins have been dealing with a string of atmospheric rivers. Recently, I was asked by a follower "what do sea otters do during storms, like the atmospheric rivers that are hitting California?" I answered that question here: https://youtu.be/EXzsZ_XdyxM

The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent Metro Parks Tacoma’s positions, strategies, or opinions.

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