--- title: This Baby Otter Swimming is The Cutest Thing You'll See Today description: Oh, my heart canonical: https://time.com/3560116/baby-otter-cute-swim-chicago-heart-bursting/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-06T02:31:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:48:20.166Z og:title: This Baby Otter Swimming is The Cutest Thing You'll See Today og:description: Oh, my heart og:url: https://time.com/3560116/baby-otter-cute-swim-chicago-heart-bursting/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6cdab70c28dec19c/6987646d35ba6f7c43c04d64/baby-otter-cute2.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: baby-otter-cute2 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Baby Otter Swimming is The Cutest Thing You'll See Today twitter:description: Oh, my heart twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6cdab70c28dec19c/6987646d35ba6f7c43c04d64/baby-otter-cute2.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Baby Otter Learning How to Swim Is the Cutest Thing You’ll See Today by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Nov 6, 2014 2:31 AM UTC  by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Nov 6, 2014 2:31 AM UTC You may not have known how much you needed this video of a baby otter swimming, but the [Shedd Aquarium](http://www.sheddaquarium.org/About-Us/Press-Room1/Press-Releases/2014-Press-Releases/Shedd-Monterey-Bay-Offer-Second-Chance-For-Sea-Otter-Pup/) in Chicago sure did. The Chicago-based aquarium has welcomed this little fellow to their facilities and now you can welcome the pup into your heart. You can thank us later. Pup 681, the name the otter was given, was discovered orphaned on a California beach in late September weighing a mere 1 kg. After some much-needed rehabilitation, the Shedd accepted a California aquarium’s invitation to take care of the pup full time. “It truly takes a village to rehabilitate a young sea otter. Our animal care team is teaching the pup how to be an otter,” said Tim Binder, vice president of Animal Collections for Shedd in a [press release](http://www.sheddaquarium.org/About-Us/Press-Room1/Press-Releases/2014-Press-Releases/Shedd-Monterey-Bay-Offer-Second-Chance-For-Sea-Otter-Pup/). And, apparently, teaching the world _what it means to love_. (H/t [Mashable](http://mashable.com/2014/11/05/baby-sea-otter-swims-omgggg/?utm%5Fcid=mash-com-Tw-main-link)) ### Photos: Inside a Hospital for California's Stranded Seals and Sea Lions  A California sea lion sits on the edge of a pool at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  California sea lions swim and sit out in the sun while visitors look on at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  Harbor seal pups wear plastic identification tags that help caregivers tell them apart at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  Herring breakfasts are organized and labeled for each seal and sea lion at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  A harbor seal pup wears a plastic "hat tag," used to identify individual animals at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  A malnourished elephant seal pup looks outside a pen at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  Volunteers tube-feed a malnourished harbor seal pup at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  A volunteer restrains an elephant seal pup while the animal is fed through a tube at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  A shaved patch on the back of a harbor seal shows where blood was drawn during an admit exam at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  Seals and sea lions released back into their natural habitat are added to annual graduation posters at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif., May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  Researchers perform a necropsy on a California sea lion that died of malnutrition at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  Dr. Shawn Johnson, Director of Veterinary Science, listens to the lungs of a young sea lion under anesthesia at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  A California sea lion pup undergoes surgery for a lymph node abscess at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  Students on a field trip learn what to do if they find a stranded seal on the beach at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  Siobhan Rickert, 18, has been a volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center for four years She is one of a dedicated network of 1,100 volunteers who help run the facility in Marin County, Calif., May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  An elephant seal pup lies in an enclosure at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  The Marine Mammal Center sits where the U.S. military once had a missile site outside San Francisco, in the Marin Headlands, Calif., May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME _Read next:_ [_Charlie the Beagle Will Trade You His Toy for Your Breakfast_](http://time.com/3556299/charlie-the-beagle-toy-breakfast-video/?xid=time%5Freadnext) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3560116/baby-otter-cute-swim-chicago-heart-bursting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3560116/baby-otter-cute-swim-chicago-heart-bursting/"},"headline":"This Baby Otter Learning How to Swim Is the Cutest Thing You’ll See Today","datePublished":"2014-11-06T02:31:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:48:20.166Z","description":"Oh, my heart","url":"https://time.com/3560116/baby-otter-cute-swim-chicago-heart-bursting/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6cdab70c28dec19c/6987646d35ba6f7c43c04d64/baby-otter-cute2.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6cdab70c28dec19c/6987646d35ba6f7c43c04d64/baby-otter-cute2.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"baby-otter-cute2","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3560116/baby-otter-cute-swim-chicago-heart-bursting/","name":"This Baby Otter Learning How to Swim Is the Cutest Thing You’ll See Today"}}]}] ```