Plus size otter in a California aquarium sparks ‘body pawsitivity’ debate

Lay off a bit guys, she's just carrying a little holiday weight.

Tis the season of indulgence and while plenty of us two-legged folk are tucking into copious tins of Roses, it seems this otter has consumed one too many fishies. Woops! The curvacious Abby is a resident of Monterey Aquarium in California and earlier this week they posted a snap of her, along with comments that have sparked some controversy.

Abby is a thicc girl What an absolute unit She c h o n k Look at the size of this lady OH LAWD SHE COMIN Another Internetism ! pic.twitter.com/s5fav2gu09

— Monterey Bay Aquarium (@MontereyAq) December 18, 2018

While most people took the picture and caption in jest, the word "thicc" offended some people and the aquarium followed up with an apology.

If our tweet alienated you, please know that we are deeply sorry, and that we offer our sincerest apologies. If you follow our feed, we often reference popular memes to talk about the ocean. In this case, the memes used had connotations we were unaware of until now. 2/4

— Monterey Bay Aquarium (@MontereyAq) December 19, 2018

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. We need to do better. 3/4

— Monterey Bay Aquarium (@MontereyAq) December 19, 2018

Despite being a little overweight, Abby is some otter for one otter! She is looking after stranded sea otter pups - one of six other female foster mums in the aquarium. We bet she's otterly wrecked!

work hard nom harder pic.twitter.com/jUXe5Vo1IM

— Monterey Bay Aquarium (@MontereyAq) December 18, 2018

Monterey Bay says:

"There's a lot more to this sea otter than meets the eye."

You might say, she's not like the otters... ok, we'll stop now. Main Image Via Monterey Bay Aquarium Twitter.