A few minutes right of Kihei along Mokulele Highway...
...you'll find the Hawaii State Otter refuge, home of over 20 orphaned otters that are being cared for and rehabilitated to live in the wild by sea life and otter experts Kathryn Green and Kevin Bacon.
We had some time to interview the primary caretaker and activities coordinator of the refuge: Kathryn Green.
So tell us what caused you and Kevin to found the Hawaii State Otter Refuge.
"Well there are plenty of other options for an otter in other parts of the states or even in the world
and there are actually a surprising amount of otters that are just left in Hawaii either through vacations or mislabeling in the shipping process. We felt like the little guys weren't being given due attention, Hawaii can be a tough place for an otter after all."
Did you have any legal problems with the authorities or otherwise in being allowed to build where you did?
"Actually no, the property was owned by Kevin years before we decided to build there. Nobody has contacted us thus far for any other reason"
Do you plan to release all of the otters into the wild in Hawaii?
"Well like I said before Hawaii can be tough for otters, we haven't even gotten that far with most of them yet but we are definitely looking for the most convenient solution that suits both the natives of Hawaii and the otters."
Do you have any plans for expansion?
"Oh, absolutely not, for now. This is almost too much to handle."
So what are you doing to prepare the otters for life in the wild?
"As with all otters, food preparation on stomach is something that takes a long time to master. Learning to hug each other in their sleep is another thing that can take many years of practice, but we are making progress all the same. With our program the otters actually have some free time."
Free time?
"All otters need to play and we made sure to have a pretty big assortment of things to do around the complex, but they all tend to gravitate towards the computer room. They've even formed their own team for this online computer game called fortress-fighter-2."
