Aquarium of the Pacific’s Otter Bowl challenges otters to a buffet chow down

Athletes of the highest caliber gathered under the same stadium Sunday, Feb. 2, for a true test of skill and endurance. No, not the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs in Miami for Super Bowl LIV — we're talking the Aquarium of the Pacific's sixth annual Otter Bowl.

At 3:30 p.m., around the same time as the big game kicked off, the aquarium's four otters — Chloe, Maggie, Betty and Ollie — retired from their exhibits to the "locker rooms" to get ready. They reconvened at the Northern Pacific Gallery for the highly coveted event, where an audience of about 200 people cheered for the furry athletes.

"I really don't even care about the (Super Bowl)," said Kate Johnson, an attendee in the crowd. "I'm here for the otters."

"The Otter Bowl is a great tradition that acts as a form of alternative entertainment," Aquarium Mammalogist Katie Finch said. "The event is similar to our regular training sessions with the otters but with the scavenger hunt twist and a chance for them to each as much as possible — which can be a lot."

Around 200 people gathered at the Aquarium of the Pacific to watch as four otters competed to eat the most frozen treats for the sixth annual Otter Bowl Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020. (Hunter Lee, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

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Once in their arena, aquarium staff began dropping frozen clams shaped like footballs and enrichment toys into the water for the otters to begin collecting for points, as well as enjoying the snacks. The rules were simple: the otter that collected the most points would be the winner.

"The footballs and treats were made from a blend of clams, shrimp and squid," Finch said. "Not too great sounding to humans but the otters love it."

Otters tend to hoard their food, according to Rob Mortensen, assistant curator of mammals and birds, so it was no issue to get the otters into the spirit of the game. Aquarium educators led a play-by-play of the game, calling out each otter as they dove after treats and pounded them against the nearest surface to break them out of the ice.

The four otters splashed and thrashed in the waters, fighting for each and every treat they could get there paws on. The audience faced a dilemma: to cheer for one otter or to collectively "Aww" at anything the group did.

Even with the surplus of food the otters managed to devour most all of it in about 20 minutes. But there could be only one winner in this competition. Betty, the aquarium's 8-year-old otter, was declared the winner. She was presented with her trophy: a large cupcake mixture of seafood; but Betty was nice enough to share it with her kin.

"The best part of this event is when people come after its ended just to see the otters knocked out from their buffet," Finch said.

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Aquarium of the Pacific’s Otter Bowl challenges otters to a buffet chow down