A wildlife lover in Monterey, California, melted hearts around the world when she shared an adorable video of a baby sea otter learning to float on its own. What happened next is a sad reminder of how humans can unintentionally harm animals if they don’t follow responsible wildlife watching guidelines.
Ayse Genisel was walking along the waterfront when she spotted a mother sea otter carrying her young baby. A keen wildlife watcher, she carries binoculars with her for moments just like this.
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“From that day on, every time I came to the shore, my eyes instinctively searched for them first,” she says. “Over the days, I witnessed their small daily routines: the mother resting the pup on her chest, diving and resurfacing, grooming and drying the pup, and soothing it again.”
Genisel loved watching the pair from afar, using her zoom to capture footage of the heart-warming bond between mother and pup without disturbing them. One day, she saw the little one floating independently instead of being carried on its mum’s chest (sea otters have dense fur which helps them float and keeps them warm).
“While the pup was dozing lightly on the surface of the water, the mother stayed right beside it, keeping a close eye on the pup while grooming herself,” she says.
Sharing the precious moment on Instagram, Genisel received an overwhelming response. The post attracted around two million likes and thousands of comments. Many people related to the intimate moment, she says: “Mothers who had recently given birth wrote that it reminded them of the moments when they tried to take a quick shower or get something done while their baby was asleep.”
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During her regular walks, Genisel kept an eye on her furry friends. She was concerned to notice that some people were so excited to see the new arrival that they were disturbing the otters by getting too close, talking too loudly, or not putting their dogs on a lead. She also heard a worrying report that a boat may have hit a pair of sea otters while leaving the harbour.
“During my later observations from the pier, when I saw boats coming worryingly close to marine mammals, I sometimes tried to call out to the skippers to warn them,” she says.
Sadly, the situation continued to escalate. Genisel saw people clambering down onto the rocks where the mum and baby were resting instead of using their camera’s zoom to get a closer look.
She later received the devastating news that the pup had died.
Although the cause of death has not yet been determined, Genisel sees this as a stark reminder of how human impacts can affect vulnerable animals like this sea otter pup and hopes people will remember to always give wild animals their space. “Even the smallest choices humans make on the beach can lead to very significant consequences,” she says.
