Feeding Milo

On Friday, I surprised Pattycake with an afternoon at the Vancouver Aquarium. But there was a twist. What she didn't know as we parked at Stanley Park was that we were not simply going to oooh and awww over the new baby beluga Qila, but we were going to get to feed the sea otters! Do you remember that viral video of those two sea otters holding hands that made its way around the globe last year? It was even on Ellen! See below. Well, those two furry sea otters were Nyack and Milo. And Friday, we got to give Milo his afternoon snack of razor clams.

The Sea Otter Encounter (as the aquarium calls it) started with a class where we learned all we've ever wanted to know about otters--they're a part of the weasel family (did you know a ferret and a weasel are the same thing, but ferret is just what they call domesticated weasels?), they're neutral position is on their backs, when they love another sea otter (or a trainer) they bite them on the nose (hard, I hear!), and the only place their furry coat is connected to their bodies is at their wrist and at their head (so they can easily whip their fur around so they can groom). I won't bore you with anymore details, but we had so much fun!

Because I didn't tell my Pattycake that we were going to be preparing the food for and feeding the sea otters, she wore her favorite Prada sandals for the evening. Oops--I didn't look down at her feet when we left the house! You should've seen the look on her face when they asked her to dunk her shoes in the cleansing pool before we went into the kitchen. I snapped a pic of them next to the buckets of clams.

Good times!

Video from yesterday:





Video from Youtube of Milo and Nyack holding hands: