The Maiden Voyage of the S.S. Why I Otter

Tomorrow will be the maiden voyage of the S.S. Why I Otter, or the raft that we finally completed. As we wrap up our first week of observation, in which we have observed the otters to establish a baseline for their behavior, we completed a raft that we now plan to put into the exhibit for the otters to play on.

The S.S. Why I Otter moments after completion.

As you can see, we ended up having to make the raft out of bamboo. It is lightweight and its closed sections make it naturally buoyant, making it easy to carry in and out of the exhibit and be pulled by the otters. Despite bamboos' origins, it grows very well in Tennessee and can be found many places out in the wild so it is not as exotic as it may seem. However it was not our first choice since we originally wanted to make the raft out of wood that is indigenous to Tennessee but one of the logs that we had was already waterlogged to the point that it could no longer float and the other simply weighed too much. After working with the wood for about a week, we decided that it was time to find a different material that would be viable. Sarah Farnsley (the enrichment coordinator at UTC) found some bamboo that we could use, already cut into equal lengths. This material ended up being superior for several reasons; We did not have to do much sanding (just at the ends) because bamboo is naturally smooth, lashing it together with rope allowed us to easily add a rope undertow for the otters without having to drill holes in the wood which would increase the possibility of it getting waterlogged, and the otters are less likely to chew on the wood (not meaning that they will not chew on the rope). Today we presented the finished raft to the aquarium and it will 'set sail' tomorrow at 9 a.m. EST, kicking off our second week of observation. After observing the otters for a week, my compatriots and I seem to reach the conclusion that it is really only one of the groups of otters that exhibit the problematic behavior. We divided the exhibit into 9 sections (shown below) where we can report the otters presence at the time of observation (30 second intervals for 90 minutes).

The youngest, Benny, is very active in sections 1 and two of the exhibit, often swimming laps or playing with other otters.

Benny diving to the bottom of the large pool (1).

He is grouped with his sister, Maya, and another young otter named Hunter. They tend to remain active for most of their time in the exhibit and when they choose to lay about it is often still in visible areas (4 & 5).

Benny and Maya doing laps with each other.

The reclusive otters (Delmar, Digger, and Louie) are all older males who are less vocal than the other otters. They are bigger as well, which could lead to them tiring faster and losing interest in the exhibit. Hopefully We will get the chance to see if their group responds well to the raft as it will be supervised within the exhibit, for the first little while anyway. I think that the raft will attract both groups of otters, but the older ones may not play on it as much as they use it as a pool bed.