Toola The Sea Otter, 1996(ish)-2012

“It was clear to everyone on the sea otter exhibit team that Toola, not me, was really in charge. When she wanted to work on something in a training session, she’d give me a ‘look’ or vocalize and I’d immediately cave in and do whatever she wanted. Now that she’s passed, we’re in need of another ‘head trainer’ to run the place.”
 — Monterey Bay Aquarium associate curator of mammals Christine DeAngelo remembers Toola, the 16-year-old sea otter who passed away Saturday from the infirmities of age. Toola was found in 2001 on Pismo Beach suffering from neurological disorders. She received twice daily anti-convulsant medication at the aquarium and pioneered a groundbreaking program of nursing orphaned otter pups to maturity so that they could be released back into the wild. She raised 13 pups in her eleven years at the aquarium, five of whom are still alive in the wild, having their own pups and so helping the population of their threatened species to grow. While Toola apparently ruled her aquarium with an iron, webbed fist, she was instrumental in the passage of state legislation to protect Californean sea otters. As DeAngelo’s colleague Dr. Mike Murray went so far as to say, “I will argue that there is no other single sea otter that had a greater impact upon the sea otter species.”