Otterly adorable: Long Island Aquarium welcomes new pups

The Long Island Aquarium recently announced the birth of four river otter pups to resident otters Stark and Flo. Born on Feb. 6, the pups marked a significant milestone last week when their mother brought them outside of the den for the first time. 

At six weeks, the yet-to-be named pups are just beginning to open their eyes and move on their own. Up until this point, they have been completely dependent on their mother’s care, with Flo carrying them by the scruff. She will begin teaching them how to swim when the pups are around three months old. 

“They are basically kind of helpless for almost eight weeks,” said Director of Animal Training Candyce Paparo. “[Now] they’re going to start progressing a little bit quicker. So Flo moves them where she wants them and where she’s comfortable. She did choose to go outside onto the habitat today, and she chose to bring them out with her.”

River otters have an interesting quirk of biology when it comes to reproducing: implantation in the uterus of their embryos takes place around 300 days after fertilization.

“The actual gestation is around like 60 to 70 days,” Ms. Paparo said, adding that the pair bred more than a year ago. “So I think it’s a fun fact that Stark and Flo didn’t mate this year, but around two months ago she had pups.”

While several species are able to delay births to await more favorable environmental conditions, this is a feature of every river otter pregnancy.

“As far as science has always told us, and what researchers have found … river otters always delay implantation,” said Ms. Paparo.

Once they are fully grown — around age two — the new pups will be relocated on to other aquatic facilities around the country because the habitat at the aquarium is too small to support six adult otters. 

In the meantime, visitors hoping to catch a glimpse of the new pups can see them at the LI Aquarium’s river otter exhibit.