Sea Otter Washing Trial

Today, at work I had was able to help out with one of our sea otters washing trial, which was very interesting. First, let me tell you about the purpose of the research that California Department of Fish and Game conducts. Sea otters are the most vulnerable marine animals to oil spills because of their complete dependence on their fur coat to keep warm. Since they have little body fat, no blubber, and high metabolic rates they rely on the air trapped between their skin and fur for insulation from the ocean. Since oil spills completely destroy their fur, CDFG, OSPR, MWVCRC, UCSC, and Monterey Bay Aquarium have helped fund a project that studies the physiologic effects of washing sea otters. 

In case of an oil spill, we will know the best ways in which to wash oiled sea otters in case of a spill. This does not mean we put oil on our otters then wash them, nor do we take sea otters out of the wild. But instead we wash our unreleasable otters with 8% Dawn soap, rinse their fur completely and then use different recovery water (ambient sea water, warm sea water, and warm fresh water) to see which type of water they recover the best in, taking into account both their fur, behavior, physiological responses, and caloric intake. 

So today I was able to help with Jacob's washing trail and was able to watch him get washed, see his teeth get cleaned by a vet from Monterey Bay Aquarium, help dry him off, pet his cute little paws, and later tonight I have a shift from 11pm-2am to monitor his core body temperature as well as his behavior to make sure that he is doing fine. After the trials their is always a 24 hour watch were we monitor his health very closely. This is one of the many research projects that are in progress at Long Marine Lab.