Good news! The world hasn’t entirely fallen into irreversible misery and disrepair! We know this because a week ago, 30,000 humans still somehow found the time and energy to vote in an otter-naming poll (IT’S IMPORTANT, OK?) by the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Rejoice! Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Newest Otter Has a Name Now!
Opal the Otter: enjoys fish snacks, swimming in pools and leaning all the way into her underbite. (© Monterey Bay Aquarium)
The nameless sea sausage was found in February 2024 near San Luis Obispo looking smol and sad and stranded. The kind folks of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took the three-week-old baby in and swiftly realized she was unreleasable. (And not just because her underbite is so spectacular it deserves to be on public display all year around.)
Li’l Orphan Otter was sent on to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where staff from the Sea Otter Program have spent the last year getting her settled in and readying her for imminent fame.
In March, the aquarium finally introduced the floating fur loofah to the public via a video of her smashing, splashing, gobbling seafood and swirling in the water like a sassy little so-and-so. The aquarium also took that opportunity to request assistance in giving the sea weasel an appropriately lovely name. The options were: Hazel, Opal and Quinn. (Even though Harry P’Otter was right there.)
On April 2, the aquarium finally put us out of our misery and announced babygirl’s name: Opal!
Sponsored
As aquarium mammalogist Sarah Pryce said herself, “Opal is a colorful name for a playful gem of an otter.”
Opal will make her debut at Monterey Bay Aquarium (886 Cannery Row) sometime before summer is in full swing. If you can’t make it to see her in person, check out the otter live cam which broadcasts daily, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
