This is likely to be one of the cutest things you see all day.
Staffers at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium this week released video of Luna, their rescue sea otter pup, playing with a basketball just in time for March Madness competition.
Luna came to the Shedd back in October after being found abandoned on a California beach weighing fewer than six pounds. Initially named "Pup 681," Luna is now 24 pounds and is "learning new behaviors everyday," spokeswoman Andrea Rodgers said in an email to NBC Chicago.
"Luna is now interacting with Shedd’s adult female otter, Mari, and will soon be introduced to Shedd’s other female otters," she said.
Luna is the second pup from the threatened southern sea otter population to be housed at the Shedd Aquarium. Staffers there are helped with wildlife rescue efforts and took in many orphaned pups following the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.
Annual surveys from the United States Geological Survey indicate the southern sea otter population index reached 2,944 in 2014 – a slight growth from 2,939 in 2013.
