Otter 501 is premiering Friday, May 18 at 5pm at the Northwest Film Forum in Seattle. Additional showings will be on Saturday, May 19 at 3pm and 5pm, Sunday, May 20 at 3pm, 5pm, and 7pm.
This film tells the true story of Otter 501, a sea otter pup who was separated from her mother at a week old and became part of a groundbreaking surrogate program where she was cared for by humans. The pup was then introduced to an adoptive sea otter mother who, in turn, raised her for months so she could develop the necessary skills to survive back in the wild. Otter 501 was the last of 12 otter pups raised by surrogate otter mom, Toola, as part of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Sea Otter Research and Conservation Program.
Today, Otter 501 is enjoying her life in the wild and is doing very well. She will soon be celebrating her second birthday!
Today is GiveBIG and we at the Seattle Aquarium are excited to be part this community-wide giving challenge created by The Seattle Foundation. Our GiveBIG day is starting at 6am with KING 5 and Norm Rice from The Seattle Foundation discussing the impact to the community in front of Window on Washington Waters. They will also announce the first golden ticket sometime this morning!
GiveBIG was started in 2011 as a way to encourage our community to support local nonprofit organizations. And support they did! Over $4 million was raised and distributed to nonprofits that provide programs to strengthen King County and western Washington.
You can be part of the largest giving event in King County by supporting the Seattle Aquarium today! Any nonprofit with a profile on The Seattle Foundation’s website is eligible to receive donations and be part of the stretch pool provided by the generous sponsors of The Seattle Foundation.
Thank you in advance for giving BIG to our community. With your help, we can continue to Inspire Conservation of our Marine Environment. Visit us on Facebook to share why you chose to GiveBIG.
On Thursday, April 26th, male harbor seal “Q” was transported to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium (PDZA), joining four female harbor seals. Later that afternoon, Barney met a new friend, 7 year old female “Siku” (pronounced see-koo) from PDZA.
The introductions at both ends were very successful with lots of initial greetings. Shortly after the introduction in our harbor seal pool, Biologist Sara Perry was able to capture an image of Barney and Siku blowing into each others’ noses. This was followed by a group swim-around, and then by the usual calm solitary swimming and resting that harbor seals are known for. This animal exchange was recommended as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Harbor Seal Species Survival Plan (SSP).
We are hopeful that breeding takes place both here and at PDZA. Harbor seal breeding season usually occurs anytime between Spring and Fall so we (or rather the seals) might get lucky this year, although a period of acclimation may result in no breeding until next year. We will just have to wait and see!
This female sharpnose crab, Scyra acutifrons, at left was releasing her young into the water in our Life on the Edge exhibit. Here her abdomen is completely open, revealing masses of thousands of pale brown larvae (see yellow arrows) being held in place by her pleopods (see blue stars), special appendages used just for this. The blue arrow indicates one of the larvae swimming towards the surface.
Here is a video of the sharpnose crab releasing her young in the water.
Most of the time, a female will hold her abdomen folded closely against her underside. It’s only when “in berry” (with eggs) that she will open it to reveal her clutch. As development progresses for several weeks to months, she will periodically open this abdominal flap to aerate the eggs and pick out non-viable eggs.
Like many familiar crabs, sharpnose crabs have internal fertilization, but the females may store the sperm for months or longer before using it to fertilize thousands of eggs. Sharpnose females may reproduce several times a year, not just in the spring.
When her eggs are ripe, the female will allow the sperm to flow over them as they are being released from her body. She will immediately attach these fertilized eggs to the underside of her abdomen, the area between the abdominal wall and the abdominal “tail.” When her eggs are hatching, she will either flick her abdominal flap into the water to release the young, or as in this case, use her front claws to assist their release into the water column.
As with most newly-hatched young, these larvae immediately began swimming to the surface. In the wild, they would become part of the plankton.
Newly hatched young look nothing like their parents and go through several molts to transform into the basic shape, shown at left, a more adult-like form that will settle out of the plankton to the substrate below.
The spines often seen on crab larvae found in our plankton tows are thought to help the larvae stay buoyant in the water column. The “tail” is used to scoop up tiny zoo-plankton prey towards the mouth. Other appendages are used for swimming.
Harbor seals are the most abundant marine mammal living in Puget Sound and it’s almost impossible to tell a male from a female just by looking at them. The two male harbor seals at the aquarium usually weigh the most during the winter and lose some weight in the summer as the water temperature increases. For more interesting facts about our harbor seals, Barney and Q, go to seattleaquarium.org/harbor-seals.
Can you guess how much Barney weighs? Place your guess here and visit us April 20-22 for Marine Mammal Mania! Barney will be weighed at 11:30am each day. Come see if you guessed correctly and for more information about the hands-on activities, special talks and demonstration during Marine Mammal Mania, go to seattleaquarium.org/marine-mammal-mania!
Today, Otter 501 is enjoying her life in the wild and is doing very well. She will soon be celebrating her second birthday!
