Ollie the sea otter enjoyed her first Holiday Treats for the Animals festival at the Aquarium of the Pacific earlier this month. The festival is an annual celebration of the holiday “sea”son at the Aquarium. Charter Husbandry Volunteer Hugh Ryono built Ollie her own snowman decorated with special treats like clam ice cubes and crab legs for the occasion. Ollie is the Aquarium’s youngest sea otter. See more photos and read the full story on the Aquarium’s website.
Here is a taste of Ryono's blog, on which he details his build:
"During last year’s Holiday Treats for the Animals event, while the rest of the otters at the Aquarium of the Pacific were playing in the snowy landscape laid out for them by the staff in the sea otter exhibit, Ollie the orphan otter pup had to be content being by herself in her holding pen in the behind the scenes area. She was too little then to be in the main exhibit. This year however was different. On this year’s Holiday Treats Day, Ollie was in the exhibit enjoying her very first snowman!
"It’s become a tradition for me at the Aquarium on Saturdays during the annual Holiday Treats for the Animals festival to build a snowman in the sea otter exhibit for the critters. What I build from the imported snow is not your standard Frosty the Snowman type but instead a special snowman with a cornucopia of clam ice cubes for buttons and eyes and crab legs for arms. The snowman doesn’t usually last very long as the otters tend to bowl it over quickly to get to the food treats on it.
"To give the young Ollie the best chance to experience the snowman up close this day the husbandry staff strategically laid out patches of snow topped with ice treats and crab legs to distract the older otters."
