The Great Lakes Aquarium’s Otter Cove is modeled after a place where otters live in the wild – the real Otter Cove found on the Eastern shore of Lake Superior in Canada’s Pukaskwa Provincial Park.
Our exhibit is home to two North American river otters named Anang and Zhoosh. These otters were orphaned when too young to survive in the wild on their own. Due to the human contact required to care for them while young, and their lack of the necessary “otter skills”, both otters will remain permanent residents of Great Lakes Aquarium. During your visit, you may see these playful otters belly flopping off the rocks, swimming, or hunting and eating their afternoon snack. These behaviors, while fun, are actually needed to sharpen reflexes and improve hunting abilities.
Species You’ll See:
River Otter
One of our most popular species
Bald Eagle
Wing span can reach over seven feet
Zhoosh the male river otter living at Great Lakes Aquarium was featured in Kathy Wurzer’s Tales of the Road film. The following clip tells the story of a famous river otter trainer from southern Minnesota. See if you can find Zhoosh’s star performance in the final scenes of this video clip.
