Vagrant Sea Otter Settles into Vancouver Aquarium; How You Can Help Choose its Name

Last fall, an eight-week old motherless sea otter was spotted wandering alongside a tarmac road in Homer, Alaska. The vagrant pup, malnourished and un-groomed, found a home in the I.Sea.U division of the Alaska SeaLife Center by the order of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a conservation advocacy group with a mission to "conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people." Today, the un-named otter resides in the Vancouver Aquarium, Canada's largest home for sea life. But make no mistake: the road to recovery was costly.

The SeaLife Center spent over $40,000 and 2,000 hours caring for the young otter. "A rotating team of Aquarium specialists spent more than 2,000 hours to help rehabilitate and care for this young otter," reads the sanctuary's official press release. "For 17 weeks the team rotated shifts - flying to and from Alaska to help share their expertise and care for the pup."

Armed with a stockpile of "fluffy towels" and "special high-calorie formula," the crew rehabilitated and groomed the pup for months. In light of the otter's lack of survival skills, the Vancouver Aquarium extended an invitation to house the affable adolescent indefinitely. The Canadian aquarium is based in downtown Vancouver in Stanley Park and houses over 500,000 animals within its walls. As a newcomer to the aquarium, its new caretakers plan to introduce the otter to a new companion named Tanu soon.

While the baby otter's story appears to have a fairy tale conclusion, one nagging problem remains: the animal still doesn't have a name. For readers who adored choose your own adventure books as children, the Aquarium is calling on you to take to Twitter and pick between Sustina, Katmai, and Glacier. For official contest rules, click here. The winning name will be announced through Twitter on April 2.