Wild Otter Sneaks Into Aquarium To Give Birth

In today's Internet round up of OMG S'CUTE, a wild otter gave birth at an aquarium in Monterey Bay. It's no surprise that a small mammal giving birth has garnered a lot of positive attention. Otters are pretty cute all on their own, and when you add childbirth and a baby otter, you're just asking for cartoon heart eyes. It's rare that we get to see fresh babies in the wild and it's even rare-er to see a mother interacting with her newborn out in the open for all to see (and tweet).

What's particularly S'CUTE about this story is that the mama otter was not a member of the aquarium, just a local native who wanted to take advantage of the calm waters of the aquarium owned tidal pool. The aquarium had noticed the mama otter hanging out in their tidal pool and at first were concerned. It's not typical for a healthy otter to spend time there, but once they saw that the mother otter was no longer alone and had a baby pup on her belly, it all made sense. Animals often go off on their own when they're ready to give birth. They instinctively look for the safest place to be vulnerable, which is typically a den that they would make in the woods. But this mama felt just fine about the calm waters of the Monterey Bay Aquarium and perhaps wanted to give her new pup an opportunity to shine in front of all the excited onlookers.

News of the mama and baby pair has spread throughout the Monterey Bay area and the aquarium's visitor size has increased accordingly. Everyone's hoping to get a peek at the cuteness. Can you blame them? I mean, seriously, what's cuter than a fuzzy wuzzy baby mammal?