For Sea Otter Awareness Week, the Shedd Aquarium celebrates with three of its cute critters
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Shedd Aquarium is celebrating the 20th year of Sea Otter Awareness Week by sharing a closer look at the care and welfare of this endangered species.
And it starts with fun, letting them play at dinner time! Three-year-old Cooper works to get his meal out of this maze, by pushing the feeder ball through the levels for an interactive mealtime.
This kind of activity is called enrichment, which helps them from getting bored. Sea Otters play a crucial role in their natural ecosystems.
The three at the Shedd were rescued off the coast of California and deemed not able to survive on their own. The Shedd shares that their hope is that by seeing these creatures eye-to-eye fosters compassion and inspires people to learn more about sea life conservation.
You can watch these three splash around on one of the last free Shedd days this season, next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are the last day for Illinois residents to get free admission.
Cooper is doing an enrichment activity with this ball maze developed by students @NorthwesternEng!
— Shedd Aquarium (@shedd_aquarium) September 20, 2022
Food is put into a ball with holes in it, which otters push through the maze causing food to fall out. This provides mental & physical stimulation. #seaotterawarenessweek #SOAW2022 pic.twitter.com/kX8VbB44k0