A baby sea otter which was allegedly whisked away from its mother due to strong tides has surprisingly found its way back.
According to EcoWatch, the baby sea otter was spotted at Morro Bay in California by Mike Harris, a sea otter biologist with the state's Department of Fish and Wildlife, along with Dr. Heather Harris, a veterinarian from The Marine Mammal Center and a team of volunteers.
Instead of putting the pup at a rescue site, they decided to search for the mother, thinking that the mom must be looking for its missing pup.
After looking around, the team finally found the mother. The video showing the heartwarming reunion was filmed by the group and is now going viral on the internet.
The video shows one of the members gently tossing the baby sea otter into the water, hoping that the mother will recognize her baby and come to its rescue.
While many might think that tossing the baby could be dangerous, San Francisco Chronicles noted that baby sea otters are meant to float.
Wildfacts.com notes that the fur of baby otters holds so much air allowing them to have their own floaters.
The moment when the mother finally had the baby back in her embrace was heartwarming. Apparently, mother otters can recognize their baby's squeal.
A spokesperson at the center told San Francisco Chronicles that it is "extremely rare to successfully reunite a pup with its mother" so everyone was "super happy with the reunion."
Sea otters, the second smallest marine mammals, live in shallow coastal waters off the northern Pacific. Their diet normally consists of urchins, mussels, crabs and snails. Amazingly, they can dive to up to 330 feet when searching for food, defenders.org noted. At present, they are on an endangered status on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species.
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