California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium was forced to apologize for calling one of its sea otters a “thicc girl” and “chonk” amid backlash and criticism over the language used on social media.
On Tuesday, the aquarium shared an arguably cute photo on social media of what appears to be an overweight sea otter named Abby.
“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!” the aquarium tweeted.
The aquarium followed up with a second tweet with a hashtag #bodypawsitivity and “work hard nom harder.”
The tweets sparked others to share photos of their pets, poke fun at the otter and inquire about her health.
“Ain’t no thang as too thick…I see you,” the Oakland Zoo tweeted.
“I can’t believe the coincidence. My dog is called Abby and she’s a huge piece of log too,” reads another.
“I like big pups and I cannot lie, You other otters can’t deny, When a cute chordate’s got a big ol’ waist and a round rock in your face, I think it’s fun,” reads another comment.
However, some on social media took offence to the language used in the meme, saying the phrases have an underlying meaning, for which the aquarium apologized in a series of tweets.
“It has come to our attention that some of the references in this tweet are problematic and insensitive,” the aquarium said. “We’re posting here in the thread so that people who have engaged with this tweet will join us in our learning moment.
“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. 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,” reads the statement.
Monterey Bay Aquarium was praised for how it handled the backlash and subsequent apology.
“Not only are your MBAquaruim tweets excellent, your apology is spot on. This account shows exactly how social media should be used. Keep up the great work!” reads a tweet.
“If you have the opportunity to learn from other people, what’s wrong with apologizing and admitting that you learned something you didn’t previously know? What’s wrong with trying to listen to people when they say they feel disrespected by something? The response was mature,” reads another.
As for the health of Abby the sea otter, the aquarium said “she’s doing great.”
“She’s one of the six resident females at the aquarium that act as surrogate mothers for stranded pups,” the aquarium said. “This photo shows just how sizable sea otters actually are out of water, and a rather portly lil lady ready to take on the tough job of raising otter pups!”
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