The Marine Mammal Physiology Project has started a new project measuring the heart rates of the Southern sea otter.  This work is quite ground-breaking, as heart rate has never been measured in sea otters other than during anesthesia.  We are currently collecting heart rate information from our resident otters to establish baseline information of what heart rates of Southern sea otters are while at rest on the surface of the water.  This is achieved by having the otters present their paw and chest to their trainer, while the trainer places a heart rate pad on each area.  The otter is trained to simply rest at the water’s surface while the trainer completes these actions, and in a very short amount of time, we are able to determine a resting heart rate. 

While we collect these data, we are also in the beginning stages of training our otters to have their heart rates measured while performing a dive.  No one yet knows if a sea otter experiences a dive response similar to other marine mammals and measuring their heart rate while diving will be the first step in that investigation.