The Sea Otter That Died At The Shedd Aquarium Has Me Depressed As Fuck
(Source) A 23-year-old sea otter who had been at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium since being abandoned in Alaska in 1990 has been euthanized, according to aquarium officials. Kachemak, the oldest sea otter in any North American zoo or aquarium collection, died Saturday, according to Andrea Smalec, the aquarium’s vice president of communication and public relations. The aquarium’s marine mammal team and animal health team had decided that “it was unlikely we could continue to provide her a comfortable quality of life” before humanely euthanizing her, according to an e-mail from the aquarium. The aquarium said in that e-mail that Kachemak was estimated to be about 23 years and 6 months of age – “pretty remarkable for a sea otter” – and that she had exceeded the median life expectancy of her species, about 15 to 18 years. She was the last of the five otters who had been in the aquarium’s care when its Oceanarium exhibit opened in 1991.
Kachemak was the first sea otter raised from infancy at Shedd, the aquarium said. She was found on May 23, 1990, “stranded and orphaned” shortly after birth on a beach in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. She was then flown to Shedd. A special space was built for her to live until she was able to join older otters in the cold water gallery before the 1991 opening of the Oceanarium.
I don’t care if 23 years old is well past a sea otter’s average lifespan. I don’t care if Kachemak lived an awesome life. If you’re an animal in Chicago and you decide to be a dickhead and die I’m going to cry about it. Just ask unnamed Baby Dolphin. That’s how it works. Fucking Kachemak, gone too soon you selfish bitch. RIP.
Yes I made a video for Kachemak, this is how I cope, sue me.
