Happy Belated Birthday, Adaa!

We’re a bit late for Adaa’s birthday party, but better late than never! Seattle Aquarium writes:

Today we celebrate our distinguished gentleman Adaa, who has set the record for oldest male sea otter ever recorded in North America and Europe at 22 years and 3 months old!

Since we don't know his exact birthday, we celebrate him during Sea Otter Awareness Week, but we do have a rough estimate of when he was born. As pups, sea otters have unique pelage and pup teeth that change as they grow.

The stage of pelage and teeth growth allows us to accurately estimate the age of the pup within a couple weeks, sometimes even a couple days of birth. The older the otter is when rescued, the more broad of an age estimate is given.

Adaa was estimated to be seven months old when found hypothermic on an airport runway in Port Heiden, AK. On average, sea otters live 15-20 years old.