Otter Pup Born to Spill Survivor

An Alaskan sea otter has been born to one of the survivors of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, Sea World officials announced.

Sea World officials reported Friday that both mother and infant are doing well, with the mother nursing and grooming the pup, which weighs about 4 pounds.

“Everything seems normal so far,” said Tom Goff, curator of mammals at Sea World. “So far it’s acting like other young otters that we have had here, but at this point anything can happen.”

The unnamed pup was born to Ol’ Blue, who was the 36th otter rescued from the Prince William Sound area after the oil spill. The pup was fathered by Max, who last May sired the only other offspring born to a survivor of the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

That pup suffered a life-threatening illness one month after its birth, but Sea World officials took her from the mother and hand-reared her back to health.

Goff said animal-care experts are maintaining a round-the-clock, pool-side watch over Ol’ Blue and her newborn, which arrived Tuesday. Goff said they haven’t handled the pup to determine its sex so that mother and baby can continue bonding.

Almost 30 sea otters that survived the Exxon Valdez oil spill are in captivity, nine of them at Sea World.