A 4-year-old California sea otter, which survived an oil spill in 2009, has given birth to a healthy pup, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The sea otter, named Olive, washed up on Sunset State Beach near Santa Cruz covered in tar in February 2009 and became the first sea otter to survive an oil spill.
Dr. Bill Van Bonn, director of the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, Calif. told the San Francisco Chronicle, "It's really remarkable. What we can learn from her, from this whole story, is incredibly valuable. This is not a commonplace occurrence at all. It's great news."
According to the Chronicle, Olive was found "emaciated, dehydrated and exhausted" by beach-goers and was turned over to the Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care and Research Center in Santa Cruz. There, Olive was covered in olive oil and washed off in Dawn dish soap. The sea otter was finally released back into the wild by April 2009, after being outfitted in several id tags and tracking devices.
Once back in the sea, Olive returned to normal sea otter life and eventually getting pregnant. Colleen Young, an environmental scientist with the Department of Fish and Game, discovered Olive was pregnant in July. Young told the Chronicle, "We couldn't believe it. We were very excited."
Olive was spotted with her healthy pup last week, Young told the San Francisco Chronicle. "To see she had carried the pup a full term, and they both seemed healthy...It just felt great. I felt lucky to be a part of all this. She's showed that rehabilitating oiled wildlife does work."
According to the Chronicle, scientist do not plan to name the pup, fans on Olive's Facebook page have several suggestions including Oliver and Pimento.