Thanks to Fans, New Otter at SeaWorld San Diego Now Has a Name!

Thanks to SeaWorld fans from across the country, a new otter who arrived at SeaWorld in March now has a name--Nova! Followers on Facebook and Instagram were asked to vote on five different names, and Nova won by a large margin. She is a star!

Nova was deemed non-releasable by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and transported from Monterey Bay Aquarium to SeaWorld where animal care specialists have been caring for rescued sea otters for more than 40 years. She has been thriving in SeaWorld's care, eating about 20 percent of her body weight daily and getting to know her pool mates: five sea otters ranging in age from 10 months old to 9 years old. 

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Here’s some good news for you on this Monday morning: @seaworldsandiego's newest rescued southern sea otter now has an identity. Nova is her name! Nova, which is Latin for “new” and is also commonly used in reference to Nova Stella, “new star,” was brought to SeaWorld back in March after 2 years of challenges and being deemed non-releasable by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Nova is now thriving at SeaWorld, and thanks to our fans, she’s a star! #SeaWorld #SeaWorldSanDiego #SeaWorldRescue #Nova #SeaOtter

A post shared by Park Journey (@park_journey) on Jun 8, 2020 at 10:23am PDT

Until today, SeaWorld's newest southern sea otter, was known only as "820" the designation assigned to her after being rescued and cared for by Monterey Bay Aquarium. "Nova" is the feminine singular form of the Latin adjective novus "new," and it is commonly used in reference to Nova Stella "new star."

A young southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) was found stranded with no mother in sight on a beach in Cambria, California in March of 2018.  Marine-animal experts from Monterey Bay Aquarium took her in and provided care and stabilization. She was given the designation of MBA #820 and was paired with a resident adult female otter who would act as a surrogate mother.  Approximately one year later and in good health, 820 was outfitted with a tracking transmitter and released back into the wild along Monterey.

After much travel and challenge, she was rescued again by the Monterey Bay Aquarium team to improve her chances of survival, and they continued to care for her until she made a full recovery and was deemed non-releasable by USFWS.

In March, she was brought to SeaWorld, where she is thriving and getting to know the other sea otters at Otter Outlook. SeaWorld San Diego is one of only a handful of facilities in California that rehabilitates and cares for southern sea otters.