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Penguins, otters stranded by Katrina bring appetites to Monterey

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By Karen Ravn

September 14 2005

Monterey Herald

They got into some hot water in New Orleans -- 80 degrees, no less -- but everything's cool now for 21 recent arrivals at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

After the storm called Katrina, not just any port would do for two sea otters and 19 penguins. The aquarium was one of the few places on earth able to take them in. The staff there was more than willing. And after some frantic preparations, by Friday night they were ready.

Now, several days after their arduous trek from the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, these extraordinary evacuees are eating and sleeping and playing and preening -- and in a few cases even molting -- just the way they're supposed to.

"It takes a lot to make an otter stop eating," said Mike Murray, the Monterey aquarium's veterinarian. "Fortunately."

A few of the penguins were a bit finicky right at the start. But now they're chowing down on their 10 to 20 fish a day right along with the rest of the bunch, said senior aquarist Julia Mariottini.

Though they arrived at the airport Friday nearly two hours later than scheduled, all the travelers were less the worse for wear-in-the-air than Murray had feared.

"The fact that they showed up in as good a condition as they did is a testimonial to the work of the people in New Orleans," he said. "It was heroic."

When electrical power went out at the Aquarium of the Americas, things started heating up -- not just in the water but also in the air, where the temperature reached 90 degrees.

That's when some of the New Orleans staff turned to the power of TLC. And it worked. Their otter and penguin residents survived in conditions that should have been unlivable for them -- and were close to unlivable for their rescuers.

But enough was enough, and Friday the animals made their getaway, first by truck under armed guard and then by chartered jet, courtesy of actress Betty White Ludden.

For safety's sake, all the newcomers are under quarantine for a while -- at least two weeks for the penguins and 30 days for the otters. But after that -- and until they return to their once and future home in New Orleans -- the penguins are scheduled to go on display along with the 15 black-footed penguins already in the aquarium's Splash Zone.

To the surprise of some -- including even Karen Jeffries, the aquarium's assistant public relations manager -- only 16 of the penguins that got off the plane Friday were also black-footed penguins.

The other three were rockhoppers, instantly recognizable as non-black-footed penguins by the fact that their feet are pink.

Still, they all seem to be birds of a feather. And when the two groups start flocking together, Mariottini said, "It will be like a family reunion because our birds came from this colony."

Speaking of reunions, one of the new arrivals, Patience, goes back 23 years with curator Christina Slager. Now a svelte 6 or 7 pounds and "the most adorable penguin in the world," Patience was raised by hand -- Slager's hand -- back when they were both at the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco, and Patience weighed a mere 2 ounces.

The otters, Buck and Emma, could possibly end up going on display, too, but that's a much iffier proposition. For one thing, they'd have to share quarters with some of the aquarium's resident otters, who haven't been on birth control since they all happen to be females.

The co-ed living arrangements might make Buck happy, but not the aquarium staff. Since the aquarium is already working overtime to return stranded sea otter pups to the wild successfully -- or to find homes for them in captivity -- it's a bit counterproductive to let one be born right under the staff's noses.

Besides, Murray said, the aquarium's Fish and Wildlife Service permit for handling sea otters doesn't allow for any monkey business, so to speak.

The obvious question: Is Emma, Buck's longtime significant other, on birth control? The non-obvious answer: No.

"We don't know why they haven't bred," Murray said.

But even if romance didn't have to be squelched, he added, things might not go swimmingly. "Even when we just put females together, they can bicker. And bickering otters can hurt each other."

If Buck and Emma are kept to themselves, their pool will be smaller than it was in New Orleans and they won't get to play to the crowds that they've been used to.

"So we want to provide as much stimulation as we can," Mayer said. "Toys and ice and live food... And we'll work with them on some of the behaviors they're trained to do... That's vital for these guys for maintaining their demeanor and well-being."

Tuesday, as Buck rolled around in the ice and Emma wriggled around on her "raft," their demeanors seemed playful, and their well-being seemed not to be in question.

The penguins were in fine form, too, standing at prim and proper attention, except when wiggling their tails and shimmying all over to dry themselves off.

Once in a while, though, they looked a bit puzzled and shook their heads vigorously. In disbelief, perhaps, that they had landed safe and sound in such comfy new surroundings?

Not really. Penguins drink sea water that gets filtered through a gland at the base of their beak. When they shake their heads, they're simply shaking the salt out.

When there are updates to the animals' condition, Jeffries said, they'll be posted on the aquarium's Web site: www.mbayaq.org .