Not sure why I thought there were only two Emperors on display - there are in fact four.
A Little Fish in a Big Pond - DaLilFishie does Japan
- Thread starter DaLilFishie
- Start date
SeaOtterHQ
Well-Known Member
I was much busier during the first half of this year, so unfortunately I didn't see this thread until now. I enjoyed reading your reviews though!
The main reason I know about this aquarium is that it's the *only* zoological facility to ever exhibit the Russian/nominate subspecies of sea otter (Enhydra lutris lutris), which also happens to be the largest and most basal subspecies. The aquarium held two of them, named Lucy and Mir, from 2003 until 2016. As you may surmise, their enclosure wasn't exactly state-of-the-art:
Based on what I've read, the average lifespan for captive sea otters in Japan is the same as their counterparts at the top North American/European facilities, so they must do something right.
As you touched upon in your Port of Nagoya review, the standards of cetacean care in Japan can also vary. Some Japanese facilities seem to have cracked the code for successfully keeping certain species, like the East Asian finless porpoise, which is the type of cetacean that is relatively small, coastal, and endangered and thus makes the most sense to hold in captivity. My guess is that the animals receive top quality medical care, which compensates for some of the inadequacies of their enclosures, though I think we'd all agree that the enclosures are still in need of drastic updates.
The main reason I know about this aquarium is that it's the *only* zoological facility to ever exhibit the Russian/nominate subspecies of sea otter (Enhydra lutris lutris), which also happens to be the largest and most basal subspecies. The aquarium held two of them, named Lucy and Mir, from 2003 until 2016. As you may surmise, their enclosure wasn't exactly state-of-the-art:
Based on what I've read, the average lifespan for captive sea otters in Japan is the same as their counterparts at the top North American/European facilities, so they must do something right.
As you touched upon in your Port of Nagoya review, the standards of cetacean care in Japan can also vary. Some Japanese facilities seem to have cracked the code for successfully keeping certain species, like the East Asian finless porpoise, which is the type of cetacean that is relatively small, coastal, and endangered and thus makes the most sense to hold in captivity. My guess is that the animals receive top quality medical care, which compensates for some of the inadequacies of their enclosures, though I think we'd all agree that the enclosures are still in need of drastic updates.
Wanderer
Well-Known Member
The Toyohashi zoo (also known as Nonhoi Park) also kept Russian sea otters. They imported a bunch for their aquatic animals complex but only one actually survived. The zoo kept sea otters until the early 2010s (I think), however their last individual was an Alaskan sea otter.
captain alligator
Well-Known Member
Sea otters were once commonly kept in captivity in Japan, but now they can only be seen at Toba Aquarium.
I saw the species back in 2017 at Osaka Aquarium. Why were they phased out, as I take it they were very popular with guests?
captain alligator
Well-Known Member
It's probably because it's become difficult to obtain new sea otters. Since sea otters are endangered species, I don't think they can be easily acquired.
I take it they don't breed well in captivity?
Wanderer
Well-Known Member
It seems sea otters born in captivity breed less well than the first generation. It's more difficult to get them to mate.
At one point in the 1990s there were as many as 122 sea otters in Japanese aquariums, and breeding was relatively common to the point that they even sent a few individuals to aquariums in South Korea and China. But the population rapidly declined since then. The last successful breeding was at Marine World in Fukuoka in 2012.
This is something that has caught the media's attention in Japan, there are lots of news articles about it. They all mention the sea otter's status as a protected species under CITES as the main reason why acquiring new individuals is impossible, but that's only part of the story...
It seems the US changed its policy at one point, refusing to send sea otters to Japan as their standards were deemed not good enough (which I think is unfair).
Nowadays the sea otters that are sent to Europe are under tight control by the US, they can't even breed them. But in the past it was much easier to get them, there just wasn't that much interest outside Japan.
As for Russia, there isn't a lot of information on the topic online but my guess is that since there are no facilities that can rescue orphaned pups like in the US everything is much more complicated.
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SeaOtterHQ
Well-Known Member
This is correct. I don't think anyone has figured out how to get captive-born sea otters to breed beyond the second generation. North America facilities no longer breed sea otters (so that space is available for rescued pups), but back when they did, the closest they got was getting a captive-born female to breed successfully with a male rescued as a pup (Aniak and Adaa at the Seattle Aquarium back in 2012, I believe). In Europe, either Antwerp Zoo or Rotterdam Zoo attempted to breed sea otters but were similarly unsuccessful. There are still many aspects of their social behavior that are poorly understood.
On the bright side, there is a small but growing wild sea otter population in Hokkaido. Our very own @Chlidonias even saw a few of them during his trip there earlier this year. If that population is allowed to expand, then it's inevitable that there will be stranded pups at some point, and those could potentially be rescued and housed in Japanese aquaria. Hokkaido already has a rescue facility for pinnipeds (the Tokkari Center), so a similar one could be set up for sea otters. There's even a sea otter-themed ramen restaurant which donates a portion of its proceeds to the Alaska Sea Life Center.
According to reports, the sea otters in Japan are even more popular than cetaceans. Last month, the Emperor and Empress of Japan made a visit to Toba to see them:
Toba Aquarium deserves a lot of credit for using the viral popularity of their sea otters, Kira and May, to support conservation efforts for wild sea otters, including the ones in Japan. A few months ago, Kyoto University launched a crowdfunding campaign to conduct a survey of Hokkaido's wild sea otters and other marine mammals. They raised more than double their initial goal, and many of the comments from donors on the fundraising page mentioned that they became interested in sea otter conservation thanks to Toba and other aquaria. This is one of the reasons I try hard to be fair to (though not uncritical of) Japanese aquaria even if their enclosures aren't always up to Western expectations: because I know they also play an important role by raising public awareness for these issues in a country where they might otherwise not get as much attention.
For those interested in Japan's wild sea otters, there are quite a few social media accounts which post frequent updates about them. There's Yoshihiro Kataoka on Twitter, as well as these accounts on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/8ai.k8 (run by Kataoka's daughter)
https://www.instagram.com/kiritan555
https://www.instagram.com/sea.otter2022