Chill otter rescued on beach dies just shy of his 10th birthday, Oregon aquarium says
An Oregon aquarium is mourning the loss of its biggest sea otter who died just shy of his 10th birthday.
Nuka, a northern sea otter, died after “emergency veterinary procedure” that was done after staff noticed his “atypical behavior,” Oregon Coast Aquarium said in a news release. A necropsy will be done to determine Nuka’s cause of death.
Typically, “in nature, sea otters typically live into their early to mid-teens” and those in human care “can live into their late teens or early 20s,” the aquarium said.
Before being brought to the aquarium, Nuka was found abandoned on a beach in Alaska when he was 3 months old in 2013, according to a news release from the aquarium.
When he was “deemed non-releasable,” he made his way to his “forever home” in Oregon in February 2014, the aquarium said.
“While the name Nuka means younger sibling in the Inuit language, he was the largest of the aquarium’s sea otter raft, weighing between 60 and 70 pounds,” the aquarium said.
Though the largest, he never “claimed the role of dominant otter and was known for his relaxed attitude,” according to the aquarium.
“He enjoyed wrapping himself in kelp strips and sleeping atop a rock in the center of the habitat for everyone to see,” curator Brittany Blades said in the release. “We will all miss him so much.”
His caretakers described him “as moving on his own time,” the aquarium said. He was the last to come to his station and took his time chowing down, “savoring every piece of shrimp.”
“While the loss of Nuka is felt throughout the aquarium and beyond, we are comforted by the fact that his memory will live on in the hearts of those he impacted,” the aquarium said.
Nuka is survived by his “fellow sea otters Oswald, Schuster and Earle,” according to the aquarium.
Oregon Coast Aquarium is in Newport, which is about 80 miles southwest of Salem.
This story was originally published February 1, 2023 at 6:46 PM with the headline "Chill otter rescued on beach dies just shy of his 10th birthday, Oregon aquarium says."
