The public has voted and the Shedd Aquarium’s new otter pups have been named.
The Chicago aquarium announced Monday that after nearly 20,000 votes during Sea Otter Awareness Week, the winning named were Cooper and Watson.
The orphaned otter pups were taken in by the Shedd in July.
The names and voting process “focused not only on telling both the pups’ individual stories, but also on building affinity and understanding around sea otters and inspiring voters to also make their voices heard in support of conservation legislation and protections that are critical for vulnerable species like otters,” the Shedd said in a release.
Cooper is named after Cupertino, California, near San Jose. Watson is named after the town of Watsonville, near Monterey and Port Watsonville, less than an hour drive from where one of the pups was found.
The 5-month-old male pups were both discovered on the coast of California with no mother or adult otters in sight at just a couple of weeks old.
The pups have spent their time in Chicago “building important skills like foraging, diving and grooming their dense fur,” according to the aquarium. They may soon be available for guests to see them their own eyes.
