Solomons, MD – According to Calvert Marine Museum (CMM) Director Sherrod Sturrock, it is the facility’s most popular exhibit. With the aid of a camera, a trio of furry river denizens has put the local museum on the map. The museum introduced its river otter exhibit in 1994 and 23 years later 24-hour surveillance via the Internet and a third otter will potentially make the creatures international stars. On Tuesday, April 11, CMM hosted a special event to recognize the generous individuals who helped fill a huge funding gap. Sturrock recalled that in fiscal year 2016, Calvert County Government budgeted $35,000 in its capital improvements plan to renovate the museum’s interior otter enclosure. Private donors matched the amount with $72,750.
The museum’s curator for Estuarine Biology, David Moyer, admitted when he came on board five years ago, the otter exhibit space was “deplorable.” From the curator’s point of view, the area needed to be rebuilt with more conducive and otter-friendly materials. Moyer, Sturrock stated, “was the project supervisor and primary architect of the new space.” When it first went out to bid in 2012 the project was estimated to cost roughly $65,000, Moyer recalled. However, bids came back at over $100,000. That’s when private donors stepped up make up the difference.
“It really was this wonderful community collaboration,” said Moyer, who added that thanks to the donors the otter’s “habitat” is much “cleaner.” With the addition of the otter cam, a view of the exhibit “is accessible all over the world.” Many school teachers, he stated, are accessing otter cam in their classrooms. As for keeping wild animals in captivity, Moyer declared, “we know it’s the right thing to do. These animals wouldn’t have a life without us.” All three—Chumley, Chessie-Grace and Calvert—he explained would have been vulnerable in the wild due to predators and fur trappers. In the wild river otters live an average of 8 or 9 years. In captivity, the creatures could live as long as 27 years. Moyer admitted “it’s fun working with river otters but a barrier is maintained. [They] are completely hands off to holding.”
Feeding time is one of the most popular daily activity for the otters and their overseers. Moyer said otters love to eat and in addition to fish, they eat hardboiled eggs and a variety of fruits and vegetables. “The otters have a very high metabolism,” said Moyer.
“It’s an amazing story,” said Sturrock of the thriving otter exhibit. “It’s a wonderful example of a public-private partnership.” Having three otters “is a new thing” and CMM is hoping to eventually breed otters.
“This is truly one of Calvert County’s gems,” said Calvert County Commissioners’ President Tom Hejl, who along with fellow commissioners Evan Slaughenhoupt and Mike Hart, attended the special event to thank the donors for making the expansion and improvement of the otter exhibit possible. Hejl also praised the CMM staff, adding that having “dedicated people” is a big reason the museum is now famous worldwide.
To view CMM’s otter cam, click here.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com
