Calvert Marine Museum celebrates Otter Mania

Calvert Marine Museum staff and guests celebrated two otters’ birthdays on Saturday at the annual Otter Mania event.

Calvert County residents of all ages attended the March 23 event despite heavy rain, but the weather didn’t affect river otters Chessie Grace and Calvert’s celebration of their eighth birthday.

The chilly rain was “otter weather,” museum employees said, perfect for the otters’ thick fur.

Families danced, made crafts and learned about otters and their role in the environment from experts including museum aquarist Matt Neff and visiting Smithsonian researcher Calli Wise.

This year’s theme was all about the behavior of otters. Attendees learned how to walk like an otter, talk like an otter and eat like an otter.

The highlight of the day, however, was gathering outside in the rain to watch Chessie Grace and Calvert enjoy their birthday cakes of ice, fish and fruit.

“I’m always glad when we have these big events like this because I think that the advertising sometimes draws in folks who might not have been here before,” Calvert Marine Museum Director of Education Mary Ellen Carsley said.

Along with celebrating the museum’s river otters, other goals of the annual event include educating attendees about the history of Calvert County marine life and raising awareness about the Chesapeake Bay and the environment, Carsley said.

“This area has such a unique history,” Carsley said. “Not very many areas have basically fossils that land on the beach.”

This year, the museum held its first annual Otter Trot 5K during the morning of Otter Mania. Nearly 300 runners competed in the downpour.

All funds raised from the 5K run will go toward upcoming renovations to the museum’s otter habitat, Carsley said. This race was one of the first fundraisers for the new project.