May 29, 2007

VANCOUVER AQUARIUM INTRODUCES 24-HOUR SEA OTTER WEB CAM

Vancouver, BC: The Vancouver Aquarium is excited to announce that it now has a new live web camera for its sea otter habitat so people can enjoy watching their playful antics from home. The camera focuses on the habitat of Tanu, 2, Milo, 7, and Nyac, 18, who is also a rare survivor of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Milo and Nyac skyrocketed to international fame this spring after a Vancouver Aquarium visitor posted a video of them holding paws (a behaviour called rafting) on YouTube. The video ‘Otters Holding Hands’ received over 1 million hits in its first week alone and to date, more than 7 million people have watched it. The video also received numerous Youtube honours, including the #1 Top Rated Pets and Animals video of all time, and was featured in media all over the world including BBC News, Entertainment Tonight, and Good Morning America. 

"We know that people love to watch the sea otters at the Aquarium, especially when they hold paws," said Brian Sheehan, Marine Mammal Curator. "They are very animated and interesting to watch when they eat, play, groom and sleep."

The Vancouver Aquarium is thrilled to see so much interest in these animals, which are a threatened species. As part of the Aquarium's mission to educate people about marine life and conservation, it hopes that people watching the web camera will be inspired to conserve nature. Oil spills are the greatest threat to sea otters.

The Aquarium also offers opportunities to get to know its sea otters better through trainer tours, where visitors learn about and feed these animals, and through an "adoption" program called Aquadopt.

To view the web cam, go to: http://www.vanaqua.org/ottercam/

To view the YouTube video, go to: http://www.vanaqua.org/home/otters.html

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For further information, please contact:

Brenda Jones

Manager, Public Relations

publicrelations@vanaqua.org