Mote Aquarium's Otter Exhibit Opens Friday

SARASOTA, FL — Animal lovers eager to meet Pippi, Jane and Huck – Mote Aquarium’s otters – will get their chance starting this Friday.

The aquarium has announced the new exhibit “Otters & Their Waters” will officially open to the public Feb. 25.

“We are thrilled that the public will be able to enjoy our river otters in this new special exhibit this week,” said Evan Barniskis, Assistant Vice President for Mote Aquarium. “This exhibit is going to be a lot of fun, as the otters are very charismatic, and it will educate our guests about watersheds habitats that not many people know are vitally important to our oceans.”

The exhibit is meant to provide an “otter’s-eye view of their watershed homes,” Mote officials say. These areas, which are lands that drain water toward the sea, estuaries and rivers, are important to people and a wide variety of wildlife both, the aquarium noted.

The three otters on display are orphans who have been raised by wildlife rehabilitators, Mote noted. At the exhibit, Mote’s animal care team will educate guests during narrated training sessions twice daily.

“The most important reason why we train our animals is for their own health and safety; training allows us to provide the best care possible,” said Amanda Foltz, a Mote Staff Biologist who helps care for the otters. “We teach them basic behaviors such as going to a target, which helps lead them to specific locations as needed, such as when we need them to go to a certain area to give them a regular health checkup.”

Huck’s training station is a plush eight ball, Jane’s is a small, plush basketball and Pippi’s is a plush soccer ball.

The otters have been at Mote since late December, living behind the scenes as the new public exhibit was created.

Otters & Their Waters will be open during the aquarium’s normal hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The aquarium is located at 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway in Sarasota.

For more information, visit the aquarium online.

Photo courtesy of Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium

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