Alaska SeaLife Center/Youtube
An otter pup is recovering after a deadlyorca whale encounterthat left the little animal without a mother.
The group on the boat realized the female otter was carrying a pup when they heard “young otter calls” from the water. Unfortunately, the group of onlookers did not have enough time to prevent the attack.
The orcas attacked the otter duo with a tail slap, separating the two, after which the whales continued to hit the mother otter, who did not resurface from the water.
The otter pup remained in the water throughout the ordeal. The group who witnessed the deadly attack captured portions of the incident on video, including the otter pup floating alone in the ocean after the attack. One of the members of the group can be heard saying in the video, which ASLC shared portions of onYoutube, that the pup didn’t look well and was “sucking up water.”
“It was weird to be on the other side of the wildlife response hotline. It wasn’t someone calling me to report an animal in need. It was the other way around,” said Hunter, per the release.
“My brain was in wildlife response mode during the entire incident, thinking we, unfortunately, may have an otter pup rescue on our hands,” she added. “It wasn’t until the entire event ended, the wild orcas had left the area, and the pup started crying out for its mother that I knew we had to think about the next move.”
Otter pup who survived “dramatic” orca attack resting at the Alaska SeaLife Center.Alaska SeaLife Center/Youtube
After the ASLC got permission to respond to the pup, Hunter said the group carefully got the otter out of the water and onto the boat.
“Her cries were gurgly, and when we got her out of the water, she was soaked,” Hunter said. “Her coat wasn’t repelling water and keeping her buoyant like it should have been.”
The pup was eventually transported to the ASLC Center, where wildlife experts evaluated her and determined that the tiny otter was exhausted and hungry but “otherwise in good health.” They also noted that the pup had a fresh umbilical cord, meaning she was likely a day or a couple of hours old when the attack occurred.
Orphaned otter pup drinking from a bottle at the Alaska SeaLife Center.Alaska SeaLife Center/Youtube
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“Very rarely do we know how a wildlife response patient got to the location and the condition it was found in,” said Jane Belovarac, an ASLC wildlife response curator. “For most reported cases of an abandoned seal or otter pup, we have the reporter watch for a length of time to see if the mother returns. In this rare case, we know exactly what happened to this newborn pup.”
source: people.com
