She was named after Gracie Montez, a character in the John Steinbeck novel “Tortilla Flat.”
An abandoned pup found by boaters on the California coast and brought to the harbor, Gracie, at 2 weeks old, was taken to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where trainers rehabbed the sea otter and put her back in the ocean. But she returned a few days later.
After several months in Monterey Bay, life for Gracie continued at a research facility in Santa Cruz, Calif., and then in Colorado’s Downtown Aquarium (previously Ocean Journey) for five years.
Credit: Georgia Aquarium
Credit: Georgia Aquarium
In January 2005, Gracie was transported to California’s Aquarium of the Pacific for nine months as she awaited the opening of the Georgia Aquarium.
But a childhood spent bouncing around facilities is long behind Gracie, who has a comfortable, attention-filled existence in her sunset years.
Gracie the sea otter is 19 years old. The average life span for a female is 15-20, so it is indisputable that Gracie is a Golden Girl, or, in more official jargon, “geriatric.”
She’s one of the oldest sea otters in zoological facilities, and at the Georgia Aquarium, her seniority is surpassed only by Charlie the African penguin, who turned 30 last month.
Credit: Georgia Aquarium
Credit: Georgia Aquarium
Since the opening of the Atlanta aquatic empire in November 2005, Gracie became a familiar sight to visitors — the sea otter with the slight head tremor, a condition she’s endured her entire life with no medical explanation.
For years, she frolicked with her sea otter mates — and fellow rescues — in the Georgia Aquarium exhibit, spinning like a spindle in the impeccably maintained water (55 degrees is a sea otter’s preferred temperature), chowing four times each day on a smorgasbord including shrimp, clams, crab, squid and mussels, grasping and playing with balls and other enrichment items.
But about six months ago, Gina Fisher, associate curator of mammals and birds at the Georgia Aquarium and one of Gracie’s handful of dedicated trainers, noticed that Gracie was showing more pronounced signs of aging.
It wasn’t her noticeably lightened face fur because unlike in humans with our whitening temples, the graying in sea otters is a speculative side effect of maturing and not medically proven.
Instead, Gracie’s slowed mobility, her lessened interest in grooming (sea otter fur should look fluffy and Gracie’s was appearing more wetted) and heightened interest in napping (more than the usual half day) caught Fisher’s attention.
Additionally, Gracie was starting to get a bit, well, “get off my lawn, you whippersnappers,” with her four younger sea otter mates in the exhibit.
For the past several months, Gracie has lived in a spacious area away from the eyes of tourists (including behind-the-scenes tours) and close to the off-exhibit residence of the sea lions.
Credit: Georgia Aquarium
Credit: Georgia Aquarium
Since being on her own, Fisher said, “her mobility has increased, she rests when she wants to rest, she’s improved her grooming.”
And she eats, well-maintaining her 45 pounds — average for a female sea otter — and choosing what she wants to eat (the clams, mussels and crab are her favorites).
“If she doesn’t want something, she’ll hand it back or lay it on the deck,” Fisher said with a smile.
In her new digs, Gracie receives more check-ins than a kid at nursery school. On a recent afternoon, she popped her head up instantly from her sleeping area on the deck at the sound and sight of Fisher, slithering with a tiny hitch into her pool, where several enrichment items such as balls and tubes floated, to await a feeding.
As Fisher rubbed Gracie’s stomach and gently tossed bits of clam and shrimp onto her chest, the sea otter spun constantly in between bites, then eagerly grabbed a plastic ball into which Fisher had placed some shrimp. This was not a chosen day for the arthropods, though, as Gracie tossed the ball away like a petulant toddler.
Even at her advanced age, keeping Gracie occupied is a priority.
“If you don’t find something for a sea otter to do, they’ll find it,” Fisher said wryly, enforcing the reality of the destructive nature of the huggable-looking marine mammals.
Although Gracie will inevitably decline as nature dictates, her quality of life remains robust.
“I’m extremely positive about her,” Fisher said. “She’s just as strong mentally as (when she came here). She still challenges me.”
Oh, and one of the nicknames for the senior sea otter?
“The Perfect One.”
GEORGIA AQUARIUM
Open daily (times vary so check website for the day you plan to attend). $34.95-$39.95 (adults 13-64), $30.95-$35.95 (seniors ages 65 and older) and $28.95-$33.95 (children 3-12). Advance and online ticket discounts available. 225 Baker St. N.W., Atlanta. 404-581-4000, www.georgiaaquarium.org.
