Endangered sea otters to arrive at Birmingham Sea Life Centre this March

At the end of last year, centre bosses revealed that following a two-and-a-half-year guardianship application, the financing of care and major investment in a brand-new purpose-built facility over in the United Kingdom to meet strict animal welfare requirements, the United States Fishing and Wildlife Service (USFWS) had granted the attraction a permit.

The sea otters, which are yet to be named, will now travel more than 5,000 miles by land and air before touching down on UK soil in the coming weeks.

Following a police escort, the otters will go in to quarantine before settling in to their new state-of-the-art and temperature-controlled facility in Birmingham, which will replicate their natural habitat in the wild and give them a safe sanctuary for the rest of their lives.

Jonny Rudd, curator at the Birmingham Sea Life Centre, said: “This is such an incredibly exciting time for us. It’s been a pioneering project for the country, taking global efforts and a collective vision with our conservation partners to protect the world’s oceans and the incredible marine life which lives within.

“Sadly, an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality can have detrimental consequences to our planet, but this is now our opportunity to open up the reality of a world which feels very far removed from our own.

"The sea otters arrival in a few weeks time will be a landmark moment for the UK and give us a sense of connection to nature and wildlife from across the globe, highlighting the unconscious impact we’re having so we can start to make small differences.

“It’s a guardianship commitment with full 360 vision, meaning that monies raised through the Sea Otters residency in Birmingham will have a direct and positive impact to environmental efforts on the ground in Alaska through our partners, Sea Life Trust.”