Sea Otters, indoors in a city centre, marketed as a rescue facility, in of all places Birmingham - right in the middle of the country and miles from the coast. Its a funny old world.
My understanding of the situation (in America) is that the Sea Otters kept there are rescue animals which cannot be released again. So if Birmingham's new inhabitants are Sea Otters then technically they would probably have been rescues originally. In that case their PR would be like a fuzzy version of truth.
On the video linked before, on the rear wall of the pool is a circular design depicting Sea Otters. At the 23 second mark.
Moulded into the mock rock on the back wall of the enclosure. Look from around 20 seconds on the vid.
Oh yes - Wow! I'm feeling pretty gutted to be honest! All these years I've been thinking that Living Coasts could never source Sea Otters from the US or Japan (see the LC thread). My instinct tells me its wrong to keep these wonderful creatures indoors. I hated seeing the short clawed otters at Tynemouth aquarium indoors and the musky smell was overwhelming. On the original drawings for Living Coasts the artists impressions showed sea otters with a caveat in the plans that fur seals were an option. In 2019 the enclosure there now feels wrong for fur seals from a welfare point of view and would home sea otters so perfectly, in sea water, in the outdoors, that I feel sick to the stomach they are going to Birmingham! I know they will be well cared for and the tank looks 'ok', but for those of you who have witnessed the indoor aquariums in the Gulf Middle East, they date very very quickly. Sea otters should have satellite breeding groups in Europe, but not exhibited indoors in my opinion. I feel the same about Aye-Ayes (and praise Durrell for giving some of their individuals big outdoor runs) being kept in indoor cells at Bristol & London without access to fresh air, regardless of their nocturnal nature. A rant I know, but shouldn't we be questioning this move by Birmingham sea life more? Is it ok in 2019 to do this?
Devi - Fair point. I hope I'm completely wrong and havn't assumed too much too soon. I don't know the layout and hope to god, they can access an outdoor area. If not, its a disgrace.
As an aside, I may be wrong, but I think London's Aye-ayes have access to an off-show outdoor enclosure behind the Clore. If not, however, their main enclosure is actually an outdoor enclosure (like the ones for tamarins and marmosets on the other side of the building), with a heavy-duty covering (like the weed-covers you get for gardens) to make it dark. When the wind gets up the light comes through and the covering flaps around a bit, also showing that they do have access to fresh air. Just to counter the 'indoor cells' comment (some of their enclosure is fully indoors, just not all). Not disagreeing with you though @TriUK , as much as I'm excited by the prospect of the first sea otters coming to the UK, I'd like to see more about their exhibit too.
Imagine everyone's disappointment when it turns out they aren't getting Sea Otters at all, but instead Vaquitas.
Thanks Crowthorne - that makes me feel better about Londons enclosure. I think some collections could educate visitors better about welfare, size & type of exhibit. I often think of Paignton, where most casual visitors are not aware of a sizable off-show area for their cheetah, but can be heard saying that they think the on-show area is too small. Thanks again.
I agree entirely. I feel very uncomfortable about any kind of bird and probably 99% of mammals being kept in completely indoor enclosures with no access to seeing the sky, feeling sunshine or getting fresh air at any collection. 'SEA LIFE' B'ham's indoor penguin enclosure is what has put me off visiting the place since the exhibit opened in 2014. Additionally, I always think that 'SEA LIFE' has very little concern for breeding, conservation, or research and is more focussed on its 'attraction' to people who will hand over their money. I feel a place like Living Coasts has far better intentions and is far better equipped; I too would have preferred it if the otters were going there instead. A small part of the ASCO (now no longer at the collection) exhibit at 'SEA LIFE' B'ham did open up onto a small balcony area where they could get fresh air, sunshine and see the sky, but they were not directly underneath the sky. You can still see it on this link to Google 'street view' from 2015: Google Maps If they really wanted to they could maybe triple the length of the outdoor balcony area by getting rid of the adjacent mini cinema etc.. Although, as sea otters spend a lot of time floating on their backs it would way more preferable if they could see the sky directly above them rather than having to look at an aquarium ceiling. Of course I'd love to see sea otters, especially only being 40 mins away, but if they do not have access to an adequate outdoor area then I definitely will not be going to see them (not that 'SEA LIFE' will care as this will attract tens of thousands of additional visitors to them).
Cue immense disappointment: the animals going in the rescue centre are..... seals. "Miley and Boo, a pair of rescued seals who each have medical conditions which will prevent them from ever surviving in the wild, will be fostered from Sea Life Centres in Hunstanton and Scarborough respectively over the coming weeks in order to make critical space within rehabilitation hospitals for the coastal sites during their heightened “pup season”, when demand for rescues of common seals in Britain is at an all-time high." https://www.visitsealife.com/birmin...NZSlvJIrB1KXF86db5KFFe08LJ_cwlePyCWHKGTi6uN2U
"new creatures never seen before in the UK" … and yet they are a species native to the UK and coming from UK Sea Life Centres in Hunstanton and Scarborough????
Makes me think that sea otters may still be the intended occupants. I noted the use of the word "foster" and talk of freeing up space at the other centres for the breeding season. I'm not as confident but still hanging on to a bit of optimism!
This does seem odd! Perhaps there has been a delay in getting the otters and they want something in the new exhibit as soon as it's ready. Or the otters were originally planned but the deal has fallen through.
They must have needed something new for the school holidays. As suggested I expect the Sea Otters are just delayed.
