SEATTLE — Sad news hit the Seattle Aquarium a few weeks ago. On Feb. 27 the country's oldest captive sea otter Adaa, a resident at the Seattle Aquarium, passed away from cancer.
We are honored to have met Adaa when he was reunited with his daughter Sekiu last December.
As her white van traveling from Point Defiance Zoo to the Seattle Aquarium pulled to a stop on the Seattle waterfront with its precious cargo inside, Julie Carpenter, Seattle Aquarium’s curator of Birds & Mammals, felt like she needed a special sign.
"Yeah, otter on board!” Carpenter laughed.
She rode with this sea otter for the entire drive from Tacoma to Seattle. It was a momentous commute.
“We were actually able to bring back a sea otter that was actually born here about nine years ago, her name is Sekiu," explained Carpenter.
The homecoming is part of a valuable collaboration between two places devoted to doing what's best for animals.
"So it's really nice to have this partnership with Point Defiance where we can work together to do the right moves for the animals under our care,” explained Caitlin Hadfield, Senior Veterinarian at Seattle Aquarium, who also helped with the sea otter transport.
Sekiu is truly one-of-a-kind, she's the last northern sea otter born in a zoo in the US. Four years ago she was moved from her birthplace, Seattle Aquarium, to Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium to be a companion to otters there.
Now she's needed back home, to keep otters Mishka and Adaa at the Seattle Aquarium company. And this will be a family reunion. Adaa is Sekiu's father.
There are tricks to traveling with a six-pound otter. The crew brought two vans in case something happened to the one carrying Sekiu. And they made sure they had plenty of road trip goodies to keep Sekiu happy.
"Comfort in the form of ice, keeping them nice and cool and not overheated, and lots of snacks,” said Carpenter.
Sekiu arrives at the Seattle Aquarium safely, then Hadfield, Carpenter, and other team members move her crate into a habitat with shoreline and cold salt water to swim in, and make sure the otter is still doing well. After that, the six zip ties holding her crate shut are snipped - Sekiu is ‘smart and rambunctious’ according to Carpenter and would quickly figure out how to get out of a conventionally fastened crate.
Then, the moment everyone — especially Sekiu — has been waiting for happens. Sekiu slips from the crate into the water in one effortless glide.
“As soon as we opened up that crate she saw that water and wanted to be in it right away, that's her comfort. Marine mammals want to be in that cold salt water where they're most comfortable. And because she lived here a few years ago I think she probably recognized that,” said Carpenter.
The humans aren't the only ones excited about the homecoming. The fur seal next door — and the otters on the other side of the enclosure — know something's happening as they focus rapt attention on the doors to Sekiu's new/old home.
“They're very aware of each other, very smart, they definitely know when something's going on,” said Carpenter.
Sekiu appears to be right at home. And finally, just hours after being on the freeway, she reunites with her father, Adaa. As staff looks on and sea otters groom together in the water, It’s a happy homecoming for all the mammals at the Seattle Aquarium.
“It is nice to have Sekiu back, a lot of the staff here have worked with her before, which is great, and the animals know her already, so that makes it all a really good day,” said Hadfield.
To see Sekiu in person, The Seattle Aquarium is open daily, 9:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. Advance ticket purchase, proof of COVID-19 vaccination or proof of negative COVID-19 test administered by a testing provider and done in the last 72 hours, and masks are required. Learn more at SeattleAquarium.org/visit.
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