UPDATE: Aquarium finds once-lost sea otter pup a new home

UPDATE 1/18/2016 4:00 PM: The Monterey Bay Aquarium has found the once-lost sea otter pup a permanent home. The aquarium rescued her from Carmel Beach on January 6, and her new home is atan accredited facility in the United States.

Since the rescue, the Aquarium has been taking great care of her, even recently introducing her to solid food. As of January 12, she weighed 3.31 kilograms. That’s up 2.9 kilograms from January 6, according to the Aquarium.

UPDATE 1/6/2016 3:45 PM: The pup is still in the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s intensive care unit. She weighs 6.4 pounds and is about four-weeks old.

The Aquarium says there are various options for the otter. Those include placing the otter with an adult female otter at the aquarium before release or sending her to an accredited U.S. aquarium or zoo that has space.

UPDATE 1/6/2016 5:57 PM: The Aquarium just confirmed that the animal is an older, female sea otter pup who is currently in their intensive care unit. Though she still needed 9 or more months with her mother, she has a much better chance of surviving due to her “older” age. She has been given a requisition number, which is 719. The number signifies the amount of otter pups that have been stranded or abandoned and taken in by the aquarium.

ORIGINAL STORY: The Monterey Bay Aquarium confirmed a lost sea otter pup washed up on the shore of Carmel Beach Wednesday.

Monterey Bay Aquarium staff tried to find the mother using the cry of the pup on various parts of the beach. The attempt was not successful.

Staff took the pup back to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for a standard health screening.

NewsChannel 5 will be following this story.