OTTER SHOT MULTIPLE TIMES AND BLINDED IN VANCOUVER - FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE

NO SUSPECTS YET, BUT HE MAY HAVE BEEN SHOT BY SOMEONE WHO SAW HIM AS COMPETITION FOR SHELLFISH HARVESTING.
 

The otter named Pirate is still in critical condition and under the care of Vancouver Aquarium specialists.

 

Pirate was shot all over his face and is now blind.  His prognosis is still guarded.  He is eating, but whether he is euthanized or not will depend on what the Vancouver Aquarium considers "quality of life".

 

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Vancouver Sun:   A sea otter is fighting for its life at Vancouver Aquarium after being found near Tofino with shotgun wounds to its head and body.

 

The prognosis for ‘Pirate’ — if that’s eventually confirmed as his suggested name — is not particularly good, although there are signs of improvement.

 

“I like his energy in getting his food,” said Vancouver Aquarium veterinarian Dr. Martin Haulena on Tuesday. “I like that he knows where to get the food. I like that he’s grooming and that he has a dive every now and then. And his gum colour finally looks a little bit better.

 

But he’s still critical, unfortunately. He’s wounded, severely wounded, and he’s suffering.”

 

Haulena and his veterinary team at the aquarium’s Marine Mammal Rescue Centre are working round-the-clock to save the otter.

 

The older male was rescued Friday after members of the public found the animal in distress along the shoreline and reported a number of disturbing signs.

 

The otter had remained in the same location for an extended period of time, it had failed to flee when members of the public approached to investigate its condition, and it appeared to have sustained serious injuries to its flippers.

 

Haulena said a team was sent to Vancouver Island and that the otter was brought back to Vancouver.

 

“He’s been shot with a shotgun,” said Haulena, believing the animal was wounded about two weeks ago. “There are dozens of birdshot pellets within him and he is in very poor shape. We can remove some of the pellets, but the damage is done.”

 

The veterinary team has performed a number of procedures, including a partial amputation of the otter’s right hind flipper, which was fractured. Due to its injuries, the otter cannot effectively groom itself, which is essential for thermoregulation, so the team is helping to stabilize its temperature through towel- and blow-drying.

 

As well, Haulena said, the otter is being treated with fluids, pain medication and antibiotics, but it was also blinded by the pellets and is suffering from anemia through loss of blood.

 

Haulena said the animal can’t be released, but could be a candidate for the aquarium if it survives and recovers enough quality of life. If not, he added, the otter might have to be euthanized.

 

Its recovery would take months “in the best case scenario,” added Haulena. “He has a lot of wounds and has a long way to go.”

 

There are no suspects in the shooting, but Haulena speculated it might have been someone who saw the otter as competition for food.

 

The continued expansion of sea otters on the west coast of Vancouver Island has proven controversial, with some being shot for competing with humans for shellfish.

 

The counter argument is that by eating sea urchins, the otters allow kelp to thrive (urchins devour kelp) and thereby create a more diverse marine habitat for fish and scores of smaller creatures at the base of the food chain.

 

The sea otter is federally listed as a species of special concern in B.C. waters.

 

Vancouver Aquarium is asking the public to report marine mammals that appear to be in distress by contacting its rescue centre at 604-258-7325.

See video here - http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/otter+prognosis+critical+after+being+shot+near+Tofino/9068976/story.html

 

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