‘Heartfelt goodbye’: Vancouver Aquarium to transfer otters to Quebec

A quartet of sea otters are leaving the Vancouver Aquarium and heading to a new facility in Quebec.

Four rescued sea otters at the Vancouver Aquarium will be transferred next month to the Aquarium du Québec as part of a collaboration aimed at expanding care for non-releasable animals in Canada.

The Vancouver Aquarium, which currently houses 10 rescued sea otters, says the move comes after more than a year of planning tied to the opening of the Quebec City aquarium’s new sea otter habitat.

The transfer will also create “much-needed space” at the Vancouver Aquarium to welcome more rescued otters in the future, the facility said in a news release Thursday.

The Vancouver Aquarium, which opened in 1956, is currently the only aquarium in Canada with a dedicated sea otter habitat. The Aquarium du Québec will become the second such facility when the transfer is completed in June.

Vancouver habitat ‘has limits’

The Vancouver Aquarium, in partnership with the Marine Mammal Rescue Society, rehabilitates hundreds of marine animals from across the Pacific Northwest each year.

Many of the sea otters the organization takes in were rescued as orphaned pups and are unable to develop the essential survival skills needed for life in the wild, the news release says.

Those animals are deemed non-releasable by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and remain in human care.

“Our aquarium’s otter habitat provides a safe and enriching home — but it also has limits,” said Mackenzie Neale, the aquarium’s animal care director, in a statement Thursday. “This transfer creates much-needed space for when the next otter needs our help.”

The four otters selected for the transfer — named Hardy, Mak, Quatse and Taz — will remain on public display on weekends at the Vancouver Aquarium until May 31, when they will prepare for their journey east.

Aquarium du Québec director Nathalie Julien Boucher says she is excited to introduce the mammals to visitors in Eastern Canada

“Since the specimens were rescued from the wild, this will be a fantastic educational opportunity, while continuing our conservation mission,” she said in a statement.

The Vancouver Aquarium says the otter transfer will mean a “heartfelt goodbye” for staff and visitors, but the move ultimately represents a meaningful step in strengthening Canada’s capacity to care for rescued sea otters and educate the public about their role in coastal ecosystems.