SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LONG BEACH AQUARIUM OF THE PACIFIC AND MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUMS TEAM TO BREED SEA OTTERS - SEA OTTER MOMS ADOPT ORPHANS

The Monterey Bay Aquarium's surrogate program continues to pair maternal-age female otters with motherless pups to help save the threatened California population.

KSBK - MONTEREY OTTER MOM ADOPTS ORPHAN

Excerpt: efore last month, a young southern sea otter named Rey would never have imagined she’d be a mother.

That changed when she met Sunny, a pup — about two weeks old — found orphaned and alone on Asilomar State Beach in February. The pairing went off without a hitch.

The two otters now live as mother and daughter at the Aquarium of the Pacific. They arrived at the facility last month, paired together as part of the facility’s surrogacy program that it runs alongside the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

The program, created by the Monterey Bay Aquarium in the 1990s, was launched in Long Beach in 2024. It pairs maternal-age female otters with young, motherless pups who would otherwise not survive on their own in the wild.

Megan Smylie, the sea otter program manager, says the operation has since rehabilitated and released nine otters into the wild, with the three others expected to leave by the summer.

... As a surrogate mom, she’s teaching her adopted baby everything she needs to know to fend for herself, regardless of her inability to return to the wild.

The two were seen manipulating an imitation crab shell and foraging for food. Young otters, because of the thickness and buoyancy of their fur, don’t have the strength to get their furry bodies to the bottom of the water tank.

Otters have the thickest coat of any mammal, with as many as a million hairs per square inch. The hairs trap air, which acts as insulation and helps keep the otters buoyant.

SUNFISH HAS TRUNCATED TAIL - TOPS OUT AT 5000 POUNDS - BUT VULNERABLE TO EATING PLASTIC BAGS BECAUSE THEY MAY SEEM TO BE JELLIES

MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM on THE SUNFISH

Excerpt: Because molas spend so much time drifting near the ocean surface, they are vulnerable to fishing boats that use drift gillnets. Gillnets usually don't kill molas immediately, but they cut into their skin, scrape off their protective mucus and flood their gills with air.

Another hazard to the mola are discarded plastic bags. When these wind up in the ocean, they float at the surface and look a lot like a jelly — a mola's favorite meal. If the mola doesn't choke as it sucks the bag in, the plastic can clog the fish's stomach, slowly starving the animal. Helping the mola is one more reason to carry your own shopping bags with you to the store — and make sure any plastic bags you use are properly disposed of.

The mola is listed as “vulnerable” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).

CANADIAN GULLY IS HOME TO NEWLY DISCOVERED FISH WITHOUT A DNA MATCH : ALMOST BLACK WITH BULBOUS HEAD

It’s called the Gully, and it’s a marine protected area under Fisheries and Oceans Canada. More than 9 miles wide, the Gully is “the largest underwater canyon in the western North Atlantic,” the department says, and is filled with endangered and rare species. It was here that in 2009 researchers caught and brought to the surface a mysterious looking fish. The animal had a bulbous head, sleek body and gaping mouth, and was a dark brown, nearly black color, according to a July 24 Facebook post from Fisheries and Oceans Canada. “They sampled and analyzed its DNA,” the department said. “Back then, it did not match any known species and was left without a name.”

MIAMI HERALD : DNA MYSTERY FISH CANADA

IT'S A TYPE OF WHALEFISH (check out the videos)

MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM RESEARCH INSTITUTE : INTO THE DEEP : SEA CREATURES IN THE MONTEREY BAY

 There are remote cameras in the bay operated by the Monterey Bay Aquarium....

The many creatures are named and listed are the depths they are found. Lots of squid and jelly.

WHAT DEEP SEA CREATURE IS PINK AND CAN LIVE 70 YEARS?

MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM : SEA PIGS 

Excerpt:  Tiptoeing over the deep seafloor, a sea pig searches for a meal.  The tentacles around its mouth probe the mud for treats - bits of dead animals poop and mucus. ... The sea pig spends its days snuffling through the muddy sediments on the seafloor, eating bits of dead algae and animals that have fallen from the surface  When something big, like a whale fall, sinks to the seafloor, huge herds of sea pigs gather nearby to feast on the rich organic sediments from the decaying carcass.

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT THE SEA OTTER TANK AT THE MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM?

One of several web cams at the MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM, you can watch sea life such as sharks, octopus, and kept beds.

MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM

SEA OTTERS : CHARLIE THE OLDEST LIVED TO 22 IN CAPTIVITY

LA TIMES : CHARLIE, OLDEST SEA OTTER IN CAPTIVITY DIES AT 22   By Jaclyn Cosgrove

Charlie was rescued during an El Nino year as a pup and lived out his life at the Aquarium of the Pacific, where he participated in science experiments.

SEA FOOD WATCH - MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM

SEAFOOD WATCH ORG

"This month we bring you new recommendations for pollock and sardinella and updated recommendations for cod, octopus, and pompano." 

This site included restaurants that serve "sustainable" seafood.  This is controversial because I met a professional fisherman who warned me against eating farmed salmon. He said, "You don't want to know what they do to it."   - Siren

MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM

MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM site is also a little virtual vacation... and you can click around until you get to the CHANGE FOR THE OCEANS VIDEO.... really beautiful!