April 25, 2006
By RIA MEGNIN
The Salinas Californian
A 7-year-old male sea otter attacked by what researchers guess was a great white shark has recovered from groundbreaking surgery, Monterey Bay Aquarium staff said Monday.
"This was a major, very aggressive procedure done on this animal," said aquarium veterinarian Mike Murray, who also works for the Sea Otter Research and Conservation program. "It really validates that these are tough little guys who can be good surgical candidates."
The otter washed up on a beach near the aquarium Jan. 7. Staff found two fresh bite wounds on his left shoulder, likely from a white shark, and radiographs showed his elbow had dislocated and both main bones of the forelimb had snapped in two.
During a three-hour surgery at the aquarium's animal health lab Jan. 13, Jim Roush, a veterinary surgical specialist from Royal Oaks, attached small surgical steel plates to each broken bone, the most extensive orthopedic surgery ever performed on a sea otter.
"It was a challenge to operate on a sea otter, because their anatomy is significantly different from that of dogs and cats," said Roush, referring to his usual patients.
Photo: TOP: The otter had two broken bones in his forelimb. BOTTOM: Surgical steel plates were attached to each broken bone.
The otter not only survived the procedure and four hours of anesthesia, but within a few hours was eating and grooming using the surgically repaired limb. The next morning, he put weight on it, and within a month was using both forelimbs to pound crabs on rocks.
He was released April 17.
"So far, so good," Murray said Monday. "He's settled into his old territory in the Hopkins/Cannery Row area, and was seen cavorting with a female today."
The otter, called No. 161-98, first came under the sea otter program's care Dec. 7, 1998, at five weeks of age. After going through the aquarium's rescue and rehabilitation program, he was released in September 1999 with a radio transmitter and integrated into the wild sea otter population. He has since been recaptured a few times to monitor his health, and stranded briefly last year with internal parasites.
A report on the surgery could be released to professional journals in the future.
"The repair that Dr. Roush did was just remarkable. There are a number of things we learned," Murray said.
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