--- title: Monteray Bay Aquarium Otter Photo Sparks Backlash description: The Monteray Bay Aquarium tried to use internet slang to propel a sea otter to fame but it backfired. canonical: https://time.com/5485228/sea-otter-meme/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-12-20T16:35:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:11.622Z og:title: An Aquarium Aimed for Meme Greatness With Abby the Otter Photo and It Backfired og:description: The Monteray Bay Aquarium tried to use internet slang to propel a sea otter to fame og:url: https://time.com/5485228/sea-otter-meme/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: An Aquarium Aimed for Meme Greatness With Abby the Otter Photo and It Backfired twitter:description: The Monteray Bay Aquarium tried to use internet slang to propel a sea otter to fame twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # An Aquarium Aimed for Meme Greatness With Abby the Otter Photo and It Backfired > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=3b3f00a0-1700-47e6-b39a-20f0607446b2&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Baby Otter Nursed Back to Health After Getting Rescued From a Canal [Watch (HLS stream): Baby Otter Nursed Back to Health After Getting Rescued From a Canal](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NK6caOcp.m3u8) (0:46)  _Published 2017-05-05. A baby otter was nursed back to health after being rescued by utility workers who found it struggling to get out of a canal on the outskirts of Phoenix, officials said_ by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Dec 20, 2018 4:35 PM UTC by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Dec 20, 2018 4:35 PM UTC An aquarium has apologized after getting called out for circulating a photo of an otter named “Abby,” along with colloquial language about the [otter’s size](http://time.com/5465612/knickers-the-giant-cow/). The tweet in question contained a snapshot showing California’s Monteray Bay Aquarium otter relaxing on the ground at an angle emphasizing her stature. (At 11 years old, the cuddly creature who serves as a surrogate mother to otter pups is actually considered just one pound more than her peers, according to the [L.A. _Times_](https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-abby-sea-otter-20181219-story.html).) > [](https://twitter.com/MontereyAq/status/1075120423744860160) But as the tweet quickly garnered attention on Tuesday, it was the caption that was not lost on the Internet where Twitter users shared their feelings on the matter. As might be expected, detractors were not on board with the move to apply [internet slang](https://twitter.com/dgahk/status/1047900921345310722) that drew from multiple memes associated with African American culture to the otter. “I’m certain that @MontereyAq didn’t realize that they were basically comparing Black women to animals by using AAVE developed to talk about Black women’s bodies to describe an animal. But that’s pretty bad, MBA,” Chandra Prescod-Weinstein, an assistant professor [tweeted on Wednesday](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/12/20/viral-backlash-over-abby-thicc-sea-otter-is-peak/?utm%5Fterm=.a24a09837d0f). > [](https://twitter.com/Welcome2Tweet/status/1075649598641848320) > [](https://twitter.com/MichalDinal/status/1075689655675310080) On Wednesday, the aquarium issued their four-part apology on Twitter. > [](https://twitter.com/MontereyAq/status/1075507604950966274) > [](https://twitter.com/MontereyAq/status/1075507606049808384) “If our tweet alienated you, please know that we are deeply sorry, and that we offer our sincerest apologies,” the tweet read. “In particular, several terms referenced originated from African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and specifically reference Black women’s bodies. Using them in a sea otter meme without that background makes insinuations we never intended.” As of Thursday morning, Monteray Bay Aquarium appears to be moving on. > [](https://twitter.com/MontereyAq/status/1075529695850942464) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5485228/sea-otter-meme/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5485228/sea-otter-meme/"},"headline":"An Aquarium Aimed for Meme Greatness With Abby the Otter Photo and It Backfired","datePublished":"2018-12-20T16:35:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:11.622Z","description":"The Monteray Bay Aquarium tried to use internet slang to propel a sea otter to fame","url":"https://time.com/5485228/sea-otter-meme/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","viral","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5485228/sea-otter-meme/","name":"An Aquarium Aimed for Meme Greatness With Abby the Otter Photo and It Backfired"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Baby Otter Nursed Back to Health After Getting Rescued From a Canal","description":"A baby otter was nursed back to health after being rescued by utility workers who found it struggling to get out of a canal on the outskirts of Phoenix, officials said","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/NK6caOcp/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-05-05T17:49:56.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NK6caOcp.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5485228/sea-otter-meme/","duration":"PT46S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5485228/sea-otter-meme/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```