Otter Spill Survivor Gives Birth to Pup

An Alaskan sea otter that survived the Exxon Valdez oil spill has given birth at Sea World to an apparently healthy pup, and scientists at the marine park say they are optimistic that the 4-pound furball will continue to flourish.

Brownie, one of six Valdez survivors that now make their home in a 50-foot Sea World exhibition pool, was discovered to be in labor on Monday at 5:10 p.m., just minutes after the park closed. At about 5:15 p.m., Brownie turned a series of underwater somersaults and surfaced with a baby clutched to her chest.

“From the way she’s handling the pup, I would guess she’s an experienced mother,” said Tom Goff, the park’s marine mammal curator, as he watched Brownie on Tuesday grooming, fluffing and drying the baby resting on her chest. As a precautionary measure, the park shut down the otter exhibit indefinitely, to spare the infant the noise of the crowds. But soon, Goff said, the little unnamed baby likely will be on public display.

Sea World scientists are heartened by the new arrival, which they say may provide new insights into the long-term effects of crude oil poisoning. If nothing else, they said, the fact that Brownie could conceive a baby at all indicates a significant recovery.

“It’s certainly cause to be pleased,” said Don Kent, executive director of the park’s Research Institute, which is working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on a continuing study of the otters. “The vitality of the (baby) will be watched very carefully. To make an analogy: what’s the thriving capability of babies that are born to drug-addicted parents? There’s a chemical effect at an embryonic age. What long-term effects does that have? Hopefully none in this case. But we don’t know.”

Goff agreed, pointing out that the birth may bode well for the 300 other Alaskan sea otters that were rescued from the shores off Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, rehabilitated and returned to the wild.

“It might be a clue that they’ll be able to reproduce,” he said, looking through a plate glass window at the floating mother and child, which won’t be named for a few months, when keepers can determine its sex. “In her case at least, it looks like that question has been answered.”

When Brownie first arrived at Sea World last August, the otter’s thick fur was still matted with the gooey crude oil that had spilled from the damaged tanker. More life-threatening than her soiled pelt, however, were her own efforts to clean it. To maintain buoyancy and warmth, otters continually lick and groom their coats and Brownie, like many otters caught in the worst spill in history, had ingested potentially fatal amounts of oil.

Luckily for her, and for eight other otters that were delivered to Sea World, the spill had prompted park scientists to come up with an emergency antidote: powdered charcoal that absorbed the toxins and saved otters’ lives. Of 13 otters that were flown to Sea World after the spill, nine survived--including the father of the new baby, an otter known as Max. Six are in the display pool; the other three are still at Sea World, but not on display.

Mammal keepers discovered Brownie’s pregnancy in April, when a blood test revealed elevated progesterone levels. While a constant diet of crab and shrimp kept her from indulging in any particular cravings, Brownie did put 16 extra pounds on her 55-pound figure, Goff said. Recently, she was so fat that she had trouble twisting into the contortionist corkscrews necessary to groom her back.

Now, she’s back to her old habits--already she has set the infant aside a few times while she grooms herself. It can’t swim yet, but thanks to her meticulous care, it can float. Initially, Goff said, the other five otters in the 70,000-gallon outdoor tank were curious about the newcomer.

“They took turns, went up and sniffed and touched the baby,” he said. “The father went up and inspected it. I guess he was satisfied.”

Fred Jacobs, a park spokesman, said the human observers were almost as bad. Although park officials are being careful not to directly interfere with Brownie’s mothering, Jacobs said that there has been considerable ogling of the newborn.

“We were afraid it would be born with six legs or something,” he said, adding that after a quick count of flippers and limbs, they realized they had been worried for nothing. “It’s probably the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. And I don’t usually throw around words like cute.”