Kenai, one of the last two plucky sea otters who survived the
1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, died on Tuesday at Chicagoâ€™s
Shedd Aquarium. When the Exxon Valdez oil tanker ran aground on
a reef in Prince William Sound off of Alaska it unloaded 10.8
million gallons of crude oil into the sensitive ecosystem,
blanketing 1,300 miles of coastline in viscous sludge. The
results were catastrophic. 2,800 sea otters were killed by the
spill, including Kenaiâ€™s mother. But Kenai, who fit in the
palm of her rescuerâ€™s hand at the time, survived more than
just an oil spill. As the Associated Press article about her
notes, the animalâ€™s longevity offered a window into otter
biology: "In her later years, she provided much information to
scientists about geriatric sea otters. Kenai suffered a stroke,
underwent ovarian cyst surgery and needed a root canal. She
lived to age 23 1/2, while the typical life span of a sea otter
is between 15 and 18 years." That leaves 24 year-old Homer, of
the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in