SEA LIFE Scarborough launches new otter speaking workshops

Not only are otters incredibly practical, but they are also a vocal species that produce at least 12 different sounds to communicate, including alarming others, greeting, and mating calls.

SEA LIFE Scarborough is home to Asian short-clawed otters Harris and Willow, who have lived together for more than six months.

The Asian short-clawed otter is known to be the smallest species of otter in the world, growing on average around 70cm long.

Guests can finally take a peek into the mind of Harris and Willow thanks to SEA LIFE Scarborough’s otter speaking workshop.

Visitors to the SEA LIFE centre will be taught all the clicks and sounds made by otters, meaning they could communicate with the species themselves if they wanted to!

Otters are incredibly social animals and live-in extended family groups, choosing to reside in burrows dug into muddy banks.

They are playful creatures and will spend most of their time on land playing, grooming, resting, sleeping and of course talking to each other.

Andy Turner, General Manager at SEA LIFE Scarborough, said: “Here at SEA LIFE Scarborough, guests constantly ask us what the otters different sounds mean, so we decided it was time to lift the lid on all the otter chat and provide a snapshot into the mind of the mammal, by explaining the meaning behind each noise.

“Now guests can come along and learn about the adorable creatures whilst also developing a new language too.

"During the daily otter talk, our dedicated team will walk visitors through the sounds made by our inhabitant otters, Harris and Willow, resulting in our customers leaving with a new string to their bow.”

Visit https://www.visitsealife.com/scarborough/ to book your visit.