What Happens When a Sea Otter Pup Wakes Up Before His Exhausted Mother

The Sea Otter Savvy team (see our previous post here) was observing this raft of sea otters in Morro Bay, CA when one pup woke up and couldn’t find his mother, who’s there but absolutely conked out. This is a little bit of a longer video by Daily Otter standards and it’s a little heart-wrenching until mom wakes up, but don’t worry - she does wake up and quickly comes to the rescue of her baby!

Sea Otter Savvy writes:

When you observe and don't disturb, you can see fascinating natural sea otter behaviors! There are so many interesting behaviors packed in to this 6 minute video, it's hard to know where to begin! The Sea Otter Savvy team was monitoring a raft of females, many with pups, and a territorial male in the harbor at Morro Bay when one pup awoke and lost his bearings while his mom continued to sleep soundly (she's at the far right of the frame, very close to shore). Sea otter pup vocalizations are very loud, and are designed to attract mom's attention even in crashing surf or roaring winds. As you will see, the entire raft becomes agitated in response to the panicking pup, but the mom (who probably needs the rest) sleeps on. Females outside the raft vocalize in response to the pups cries, a male pops in and rebuffs the pups advances, and an old territorial male (very grizzled (white fur), at center, near shore) ignores the activity and quietly rebuffs the incoming younger, healthier male. Stick around for the happy ending!