MONTEREY – After a one-day online poll with almost 30,000 participants, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has announced it is naming its newest resident otter Opal.
The aquarium is planning for Opal to make her public debut this summer. The sea otter exhibit staff have been working with Opal behind the scenes to prepare her to join the other resident otters on exhibit.
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Those interested can receive updates about Opal through the aquarium’s social media accounts, newsletter and on the aquarium’s website.
The name Opal was one of three options poll participants had to choose from. The aquarium described Opal as a colorful name for her playful personality and said the name is “associated with the iridescent gemstone and there are many ocean-related opalescence references like the opalescent nudibranch and the insides of shells” in a press release.
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She arrived at the aquarium after being found stranded near San Luis Obispo in February 2024 as a three-week-old dependent pup and was deemed unreleasable by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Opal may help orphaned pups in the future as part of the Sea Otter Surrogacy Program, which the Herald took a closer look at as part of the 40th anniversary series. As a part of the program, Opal would act as an adoptive mother or companion for stranded young pups, teaching them skills such as grooming and foraging to survive in the wild.
