After about 10 months, a pup has learned its lessons. The team brings it to the sea.
Every sea otter’s return is good news for nature. That’s because these creatures are an important part of their ecosystems. For example, in a kelp forest, otters eat sea urchins, and urchins eat kelp. When otters are not around, the urchin population can get too big. The urchins can destroy the kelp forest.
Once an otter is back in the sea, the team uses special equipment to track it and make sure it’s doing well.
“We want to give it the best chance of survival in the wild,” says Mayer.