Newest rescue otter at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago is now named Jade

After public on-site voting, Shedd Aquarium’s newest otter will now go by the name Jade.

The name received 554 votes out of 2,000 ballots cast in-person at the aquarium Wednesday. Jade is a 3-year-old rescued female nonreleasable southern sea otter who joins Shedd from the West Coast.

The name was selected in honor of Jade’s Cove, just south of Monterey in the otter’s native range off the California coast. Other naming options included Marina, for the city where she was rescued; Esa, a reference to the Endangered Species Act; and Rey, for the Monterey Bay area.

In a statement, Andrea Oake, Shedd’s manager of sea lions and sea otters, said the rescued raft of otters serve as important ambassadors, connecting Chicagoans to the coastlines.

“By providing this naming opportunity on-site to bring people eye to eye with the otters, we’re able to create a powerful connection that could last a lifetime,” she said.

Previously known as Otter 937, Jade is the newest member at the Shedd otter raft, joining Watson, Luna, Cooper and Seldovia. She will grow in the aquarium’s Abbott Oceanarium, where Shedd’s beluga whales, pacific white-sided dolphins, sea lions and sea otters reside.

Jade is expected to get acclimatized and develop important skills before joining the Monterey Bay Aquarium Sea Otter Surrogacy Program. The program, which Shedd supports, offers a temporary home for nonreleasable rescued female sea otters. Monterey Bay Aquarium’s surrogacy partner is Aquarium of the Pacific.

“Jade is learning skills like foraging and getting familiar with her habitat … She will continue training and enrichment activities that will prepare her to foster future surrogate pups,” Kayley Galassini, Shedd’s assistant director for public relations, told the Sun-Times.