There’s something special about a 10th birthday—a feeling of pride in having reached double digits, an air of wisdom as one looks back on an entire decade of experiences lived and lessons learned.
Oswald the southern sea otter just turned 10 years old, and if one were to ask him to share his insight, it would likely be along the lines of “Eat, sleep, hair care regimen, repeat.”
Oswald was found stranded as a pup on the coast of California in 2013; with his mother nowhere in sight, he had been either abandoned or orphaned, and was transported to Monterey Bay Aquarium for immediate care. Oswald was introduced to a resident female there named Gidget; it was Gidget’s first opportunity to interact with a sea otter pup, and she would go on to surrogate many others. While their socialization was successful, there was still a lot of human interaction to make sure the process went smoothly. Because of that, Oswald was not eligible to be released back into the wild. Fortunately, the Aquarium had room for another sea otter.
Oswald was named shortly after his arrival to OCAq—he’s named after Oswald West, an Oregon governor who declared all Oregon beaches to be public, which in effect protected public access to our beaches today. Similar to his namesake, Oswald has helped thousands of visitors feel that much closer to the Oregon coast.
Oswald has spent the last 10 years fulfilling his niche as the sweetest, most patient member of the aquarium’s sea otter trio–see Oswald during your next visit, or tune into the live otter cam: https://aquarium.org/live-cameras/otter-cam.
