otters

Barn Hill Preserve in Louisana, US, let's you swim with adorable Asian small-clawed otters! Well, there are some restrictions. First, you must be at least 16 years, and second, you have to sign a waiver before your experience. 

The swimming with otters experience is approx. 1 hour. This includes a portion of the tour, changing of clothes, orientation and about 35 minutes of pool time with the adorable otters. And the number of swims is limited so that this experience remains a very positive experience for the otters, as well as humans. 

President and CEO of Barn Hill Preserve, John Ligon, talks about the work the preserve does for the animals, including; providing animal homes and helping macaws learn to fly so they can live out their 80 years in the Louisana Countryside. The preserve also contributes to the community, providing free educational programs to students, participating at an event hosted by the Dream Day Foundation which provides a fun-filled day for patients of St. Jude and their families. They also worked to rescue flying foxes that had been orphaned due to the record heatwave in Australia. And while they were in Australia, the preserve donated to the Tree Kangaroo Rescue and Conservation Centre.

Ligon also stresses the fact that the otters are never forced to do anything so that their entire experience is completely positive. 

Sign us up! 

Kotaro and Hana are two cute otters (male and female) living in Japan with their loving owner who documents their life together on a dedicated Instagram page and also on a very popular youtube channel. We have totally fallen in love with these two cuties and we're sure you will too once you'll get a chance to review their videos.     

The company Cute Dose is called cute dose for a reason! They have a plethora or adorable items but our personal favorite are the care packages you can send to a friend or your significant 'otter'.

Not only do they seem affectionate and cuddly with one another, they genuinely seem to simply enjoy each others company. 

If otters aren't relationship goals then we just don't know what is anymore. 

This. This right here is love. 

Huzzah! Another step in the right direction! 

CITES is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals, and as of yesterday, in a meeting in Geneva, over 100 countries have voted to ban the trade in the smooth-coated otters and officially placing the otters onto the CITES most endangered list. 

Story via France 24

And then the conversation got carried away and before we knew it -- Sean Astin Appreciation Day was born! And we're totally on board! 

It all began when Twitter user @samxgrace posted some photos of Sean Astin adorably hanging out with a cuddly otter, but made the mistake of saying, "Sean Astin from 'Stranger Things'". 

Check out the hilarious transition, from otters, to diapers, to an entire day dedicated to Sean Austin, below!

Get otter here! The Winnipeg Humane Society's emergency response team was called downtown to save a river otter that had taken refuge from the cold under a garbage bin near the University of Winnipeg. Shout out to the team who was able to rescue the poor river otter. 

These otters have quite an impressive range of human emotions and we just love them! 

And here are more Funny Tweets for you to enjoy. 

OMG Otters!

#TheDailyOtter twitter account is the perfect way to celebrate the sea otters awareness week.