The efforts of a dying mother to protect her sea otter pup after a shark attack were not in vain as her baby is now being rehabbed at the Marine Mammal Center.
In May, “Langly,” now about 7 months old, was found on a beach in San Luis Obispo clinging to her mom, who was bloodied by the shark attack.
“It appeared as though mom had suffered shark bite injuries and expelled a lot of energy getting her pup safely to shore,” according to notes from center volunteer Tony Salome. “Her pup was vocalizing loudly as it clung to mom. Plan A was to net both animals together. We anticipated mom would fight to protect her pup, but she had no strength left and it was the pup who fought to protect her mom.”
The center’s rescue team was able to capture both sea otters and began the process of getting care for the pair, but Langly’s mother died on the trip.
“Unfortunately, the pup’s mother had suffered extensive shark bite wounds that caused her to lose a lot of blood,” Salome wrote. “She died on the way to the center’s triage facility less than 30 miles away.”
When the now orphaned sea otter pup arrived at the center’s clinic, the initial exam noted that she was in good condition with no obvious injuries, and volunteers surmised her mother had likely protected her from the shark, Salome noted.
There was good news: Langly was close to weaning age, and had been eating crustaceans, such as crabs, shrimp.
“That was a big plus because it meant we did not have to put her with a foster mom,” said Dr. Cara Field, a veterinarian at the center.
But during her first month at the center in the Marin Headlands Langly did lose weight due to the loss of her mother’s milk, a low appetite and some difficulty figuring out how to crack open shellfish. In stepped center volunteers who prepared Langly’s meals six times a day, cracked mussels and clamshells and removed crab and shrimp legs to make the transition to solid food easier for the pup.
Langly’s weight has come back and she could be released in the coming weeks, Field said. She will be outfitted with a radio tag so her movements can be tracked. She also now has a roommate at the center to help her socialize.
Langly would be one of the few success stories among otters. Since the center opened in 1975, about 350 have been brought to the center, but only 22 have survived.
Bites from great white sharks are one of the top causes of mortality for the southern sea otter — a federally threatened species for the past 40 years — and may be a factor limiting their recovery throughout California. Although sharks do not usually eat sea otters, researchers believe they mistake them for seals and a single bite is often deadly.
While the southern sea otter population has grown to between 1,500 and 3,000, its range has not expanded during the past decade, likely because of sharks.
The otters are also affected by ocean toxins. Phytoplankton produces domoic acid in algae, and the nerve toxin is absorbed by crabs, clams and scallops, which are eaten by sea otters. The toxins sicken the otters and can kill them by causing seizures and sometimes navigational impairment.
As many as 20,000 southern sea otters might have lived along the coasts of California and Baja California at one time, but the 1800s fur trade nearly caused their extinction.
Studies show otters are a keystone species that helps maintain healthy kelp forest and tidal wetland ecosystems. They eat sea urchins and crabs, allowing kelp and sea grasses to thrive and provide habitat to other species, according to the center.
The sea otter are quite dexterous. They can scale fences, slip under gates and their paws can undo bolts, screws and even unlock enclosures.
The center has two retrofitted pens with solid walls of fiberglass-reinforced plastic, replacing fencing, to keep the sneaky sea otters contained. Gates have also been lengthened so they can’t crawl underneath. Water filtration systems have been girded with stronger grates and with bolts out of the otters’ grasp, according to center officials.
