Otter News Archive
Otter at Seattle Aquarium knows all about health effects of oil spill
Read original. . .
Previous |
Archive Index | Next
25th May 2010
BBC Scotland, United Kingdom
SEATTLE -- Nuka, the aging otter at the Seattle Aquarium, survived one of the ugliest environmental catastrophes.
She has battled a startling host of health issues since she was pulled as a pup from Alaska's Exxon Valdez oil spill, covered in crude.
Nuka suffers from nasal mites, dermatitis likely due to a compromised immune system, and unexplained spasms.
"Literally, her rear flippers tremor from time to time, and her front paws will tremor from time to time," said Traci Belting, the aquarium's curator of mammals and birds. "(She has) poor fur quality, which is critical to otter for their insulation."
"She hauls out more than the others, probably because she's cold," said C.J. Casson, the aquarium's curator of life sciences.
It was Casson's job to rescue oiled otters from that 1989 spill.
"I just remember the devastation of being there and smelling it, and seeing the animals dying. It's very tragic," said Casson.
And now watching oil coat wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico is bringing back the pain and fears that the spill will affect thousands of animals, down to the barnacles at the bottom.
"And then the bigger animals will eat those, and the bigger animals will eat those. And just works its way up the food chain, and could eventually reach us," said Casson.
Seattle Aquarium curators don't really know how much Nuka's chronic conditions can be blamed on oil exposure. At 21, Nuka has lived long past the average age of a female otter, but she's under constant vet care. She doesn't have to compete for food or face predators, and biologists say she never would have survived in the wild.
"Nuka, especially, has been able to tell an amazing story about what happens with pollution when it impacts animals, so she has gone on to educate millions," said Belting.
"I've got to give her credit," Casson said. "You can't help but look at her and be inspired."