Video courtesy Aquarium of the Pacific
3:33pm | The Aquarium of the Pacific welcomes its newest member this week as Ollie the three-month-old otter will be introduced to the public.
Visitors to the aquarium can take behind-the-scenes tours to feed fish, explore nonpublic areas and now meet Ollie, who is being nursed back to full strength and will likely be permanently added to the otter exhibit in Fall 2011.
Ollie, named by six-year old cancer patient Grace Suomi, was just weeks old when she lost her mother and was discovered near Santa Cruz. Wildlife officials said she was unable to return to the wild and the Aquarium of the Pacific offered to help. She weighed just ten pounds upon arrival, but thanks to constant care and careful feeding is up to a healthy 18 pounds.
“Ollie loves eating clam and playing with ice and enrichment toys,” said Caitlin Dixon, Aquarium of the Pacific senior mammal expert. “When tours walk by, they will most likely hear her as she is our most talkative otter.”
Admission and a Behind-The-Scenes pass cost $34.95 for adults and $23.95 for children. The aquarium just recently opened an expanded otter exhibit that is currently home to four animals.