Livestream Some Otters Holding Hands. You Won't Regret It

By Lydia Manch Last edited 49 months ago

Lydia Manch Livestream Some Otters Holding Hands. You Won't Regret It

Otter-ly beautiful. Image: "Mike" Michael L. Baird in Creative Commons

You can lose hours in a good aquarium. And Monterey Bay, on the California coast, has a more dazzling aquarium than most.

We've been dazzled by it in person, but like many a tourist attraction, along with the dazzle it can also be loud, crowded, and awash with other people's kids who etiquette dictates you will have to graciously let in front of you at the ice-cream stand.

Getting mesmerised at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Photo by Lydia Manch.

But Monterey Bay Aquarium is absolutely nailing it at #lockdowncontent.

They have an entire page and YouTube playlist dedicated to meditative and relaxation videos.

Spend 35 seconds resetting your pace by gently breathing in and out in time with a sleepy elephant seal (10/10, extremely soothing, let his calm become your calm), or take ten minutes to recharge your soul with one of their guided MeditOceans (come for the pun, stay for the gently pulsating jellyfish).

And best of all: the aquarium's live webcams, ten of them. Here for some of that moon jelly action? In it for the sharks?

Or our personal and forever favourite, the sea otter cam.

Bringing you glimpses of the aquarium's enrichment programme for sea otters, this is actually something that couldn't exist, in its current form, outside of lockdown. Usually when the aquarium's open to the public, the wild sea otters are kept separate and away from visitors — so that the otters, rescued as stranded pups, and given to surrogate otter parents at the aquarium to rear, don't become too comfortable with being around humans; they're ultimately going to be released back into the wild when they've learned the skills they need to survive.

With the aquarium closed, the wild sea otter pups can explore the two-story Sea Otter space with their surrogate otter families — and thanks to the sea otter cam, you can watch them roam, dive, and nap like absolute pros. We could all learn a lot from their napping.

Thanks My Modern Met for bringing this pure joy to our attention. Excuse us while we settle in for 5-6 straight hours of pulsating golden jellyfish, and otters holding hands while they sleep.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium's webcams are live streaming from 11pm - 11am UK GMT.

If you love what they're doing, consider donating to the Monterey Bay Aquarium's conservation work here.