• Oregonzoo.org
• See that? That's a maternal look in her eyes.

Welcome back to Otter Friday in which your hard-working and diligent Blogtown team go to extreme and sometimes awesome lengths to bring you essential news on the world's most talented and objectively brilliant semi-aquatic mammals.

This week, we swell with pride:

The race to determine the Oregon Zoo's 2013 Mother of the Year grew heated at times but was thoroughly engaging, as keepers rallied behind their favorite animals and voters participated in record numbers. In the end, Tilly the river otter came out ahead with 47 percent of the vote, outpacing Asian elephant Rose-Tu (38 percent) and DeBrazza's monkey Brooke (15 percent).

Whilst we don't mean to take ALL the credit for this, it's highly likely that our tireless coverage of Tilly's maternal brilliance played some part in getting her over the line. I mean, she beat an elephant and a monkey who, thanks to the lack of otter-related animated films in recent years (ever), should have been considered favorites.

In the hope that there will be a vote on the sporting ability of zoo animals some time soon, here is a video of Oregon Zoo's Eddie the Otter playing basketball. Seriously.

Mololla Mo, the Oregon Zoo's nine-week-old river otter, is learning to swim, and check it out. It's basically the best thing ever. "Baby otters do not know how to swim when they're born!" WHAT!

(Fun fact! Mo's the son of Tilly, who you might remember from when Alex Zielinski and I—no big deal or anything—TOTALLY GOT TO HANG OUT WITH OTTERS THAT ONE TIME.)

The only problem with the above video is that the music is kind of terrible. Here's an alternate soundtrack that I'm pretty sure Mo would approve of.

• OTTER PUP OTTER PUP! OTTER PUP! OTTER PUP! OTTER PUP!

IT'S AN OTTERMERGENCY!

Tilly, one of the zoo’s two North American river otters, gave birth to a male pup Jan. 28—the first river otter to be born at the Oregon Zoo. The new arrival weighed just over 4 ounces at birth and has already tripled that due to his mother’s naturally high-fat milk. Keepers have yet to decide on a name for the pup, though it is likely he will be named after a local river or waterway.

If all goes well, zoo visitors should be able to see Tilly and her pup in the Cascade Stream and Pond section of the zoo’s Great Northwest exhibit in a few months. (Via.)

Thanks to my official Otter Friday Copilot, Alex Zielinski, who first emailed me with this exciting news ("You better Otter Friday that shit"), then tweeted what we're all hoping after that goddamn baby elephant debacle: "Fingers crossed that it's not under contract to a traveling circus."

(OMG you guys how great would an otter circus be)

The aquarium is out on the ragged edges of the city, past Milwaukie where the streets grow wide and lined with tire stores, in a former Black Angus steakhouse that two brothers purchased in June, promising an aquarium for Portland by December. The brothers, Ammon and Vince Covino, were fresh off opening an aquarium in Boise that faced massive delays and a board member charged with coral smuggling. On the grand opening day for members this week, the aquarium alerted its supporters via Facebook that a sudden emergency meant the aquarium would not actually open its doors until the late afternoon. Not a good start.

So it was with low expectations that I rolled into the parking lot of the Portland Aquarium this morning—and found it surprisingly delightful!

The aquarium opens to the general public tomorrow and make no mistake: This is not the Monterey Bay Aquarium or Boston's New England Aquarium. This is an aquarium built in six months in a former steak house. It has seven rooms of exhibits, two of which—the promised homes of its star attractions, otters and puffins—aren't done yet.

But the rooms that do exist are full of awesome fish, festooned with great nautical decorations, and, unlike those fancier aquariums, kids can touch pretty much everything. There is an iguana that loafs all day on a speedboat, a tortoise that hangs out in a corner, and an amazing giant tank full of tiny sharks and bat rays where you can reach in and feel their slimy bodies slide under your fingers. In one room, kids can buy seaweed and krill for $3 and hang it over a tropical fish tank where bright species will nibble it out of their tiny palms. In another, adults and kids can go inside an aviary and be covered tiny parakeets. The final room of the aquarium has a rack of animal costumes for children, resulting in an adorable menagerie of tiny sharks bumbling around on the floor. Along the way, there's two octopi, poisonous frogs, jellyfish and other wonders.

There is also the opportunity to purchase a horrifying octopus cake for any party occasion.

• This is edible. Happy birthday!

All in all, I think the Portland Aquarium will feel pretty podunk to anyone over the age of 10. But it will be a magical, educational dreamworld for small children. The aquarium is just the right size and level of interactivity for curious children who will get hungry after about an hour of poking iguanas, anyway.

The Portland Aquarium is located at 16323 S.E. McLoughlin Blvd, Milwaukie. Day tickets to the aquarium are $10.95 for adults and $4.95-8.95 for kids. Also, check out Alex Falcone's post from earlier today about fish facts!

• Oregon Zoo
• EDDIE This is Eddie the sea otter, chillin' like a villain.

Yes, Otter Friday has been on a hiatus lately because, in the words of my esteemed boss, "Hey, so those otter posts you and Alex keep doing are making all the other posts on Blogtown look like crap, please knock it off for a bit." So we did. HOWEVER. We have some BREAKING OTTER NEWS that must be reported: It's Sea Otter Awareness Week, and the Oregon Zoo's got special sea otter stuff going on all week!

The Oregon Zoo is proud to participate in Sea Otter Awareness Week from Sunday, September 23 through Saturday, September 29, 2012. This week-long event aims to educate the public about the critical role sea otters play in marine ecosystems. Our staff will host keeper talks daily at 11:30 am, paired with enrichment and/or training sessions with the sea otters.

Those sea otters are Eddie and Thelma, and, as you might remember from when Alex and I went and totally got to hang out with them, they are awesome. And the zookeepers who take care of the otters are really smart and nice! So go be aware of sea otters at the Oregon Zoo this week, and tell Eddie and Thelma hi for me and Alex. And if either of them get all up in your grille about why there hasn't been an Otter Friday for a little while just tell them to mellow out already, it'll be back sometime soon, geez.

Welcome back to Otter Friday, the most anticipated weekly event in Blogtown history, in which Erik Henriksen and I share the wonders of the otter world with our lovely followers. And other people who stumble upon this by some wonderful accident.

This week's theme? OTTERS BEING NOISY! Turns out, otters are super loud when they want to be. I know it sounds annoying, but it actually is mind-blowingly adorable. Because, otters.

Turn up your speakers — especially if you're in a quiet work environment or riding the MAX home and everyone is already annoyed at you.

See you next Otter Friday!

Welcome back to Otter Friday, Blogtown's finest feature, in which Alex Zielinski and I carefully curate a selection of otter videos. We are guided by a single, clear purpose: ALL OTTERS, ALL THE TIME.

This week's theme? OTTERS TOUCHING THEIR FACES!

See you next Otter Friday!

A week or two ago the Mercury received an email from a reader. So that's fine, I guess... so far. But then: the email's bullshit subject line? "Otters are vicious." And then there was a link to this:

Fangs pierced Leah Prudhomme's legs as she swam across the deep, dark rum-colored northern Minnesota lake. It could be anything, she thought—muskrats, beavers, maybe a muskie. But it didn't let up.

In the middle of Island Lake near Duluth, the triathlete struggled as the animal sunk its needle-sharp teeth into her legs, feet and back, leaving 25 bite marks, some 2 inches deep.

"It just kept coming after me," said Prudhomme, 33, of Anoka. "You never knew where it was going to bite next."

In between peppering her with puncture marks, the animal's head popped up a few feet away. That's when Prudhomme noticed its distinctive long tapered tail, small beady eyes and gray head. An otter. (Via.)

I bet right now you're thinking what Alex Zielinski and I thought when we read that dispicable piece of yellow journalism: "What the fuck is a muskie?"

The muskellunge (Esox masquinongy), also known as muskelunge, muscallonge, milliganong, or maskinonge (and often abbreviated "muskie" or "musky"), is a species of large, relatively uncommon freshwater fish of North America. The muskellunge is the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae. The common name comes from the Ojibwa word maashkinoozhe, meaning "ugly pike." (Via.)

AND NOW you're probably thinking what Alex and I thought next: OBVIOUSLY it was not really an otter that attacked the unfortunate, and sadly mistaken, Leah Prudhomme. Otters are the adorable sweethearts of the oceans and/or rivers. With this in mind, Alex and I decided the best way to counter such filthy, deplorable libel would be to let the otters speak for themselves.

THE DEFENSE RESTS! NO MORE QUESTIONS, YOUR HONOR! PERMISSION TO TREAT THIS WITNESS AS HOSTILE! YES THEY DESERVE TO DIE AND I HOPE THEY BURN IN HELL!

See you next Otter Friday!

• OTTERS Space Otter, clone of Space Otter, Han Solo punching Alien Otter

Welcome back to Otter Friday, the only thing that matters in your otherwise pathetic life! It's when Alex Zielinski and I find neat otter videos... and then show them to you so that you might feel a tiny bit less awful about your crippling loneliness!

Alex and I hope you're prepared for this week's Otter Friday, because the theme is...

LET US VOYAGE TO THE OUTER LIMITS OF IMAGINATION... WITH OTTERS!

First... An otter who has fallen to the Dark Side!

Then... Adventures in Otter Space: Part 3!

Finally... A terrifying vision of the bleak futurescape to come—when craven genesplicers craft cruel experiments in decrepit aquariums! The ungodly abominations they create: hybrid horrors who sneer and spit in the face of Mother Nature! Who scheme and slaughter until they rule all of what was once known as "Planet Earth"! Who imprison simpering, weak-willed humans—condemning their former masters to brutal lives of subterranean slavery!

Let us begin.

See you next Otter Friday!

Welcome back to Otter Friday, the only thing of any worth whatsoever on the entire internet! Otter Friday is when Alex Zielinski and I spend an entire week combing YouTube for the finest otter-related videos... and then we give them to you!

This week's Otter Friday theme is FENWAY, THE GREATEST OTTER IN THE GALAXY. All three videos star Fenway, the greatest otter in the galaxy! For real, he's the best. We researched it pretty thoroughly. I was going to be Fenway's hype man and hype him up for you guys, but he doesn't really need it. And when I asked Alex if she had anything she wanted to tell you about Fenway, she somehow squinted and rolled her eyes at the same time. "No," she said. "I think Fenway speaks for himself."

See you next Otter Friday!

It's the day we've all been waiting for all week long—Otter Friday! Now who's ready to look at some adorable otters?! That's what I thought! Bring out the otters!

*PLEASE NOTE: This week's Otter Friday does not feature any otters. Instead it features jerboas. Do not panic. Our regularly scheduled, otter-centric Otter Friday will return next Otter Friday. See you next Otter Friday!

Welcome back to Otter Friday, the best thing on the internet! It is when Alex Zielinski and I find great videos of otters... and then share them with you!

Fun fact! The Wu-Tang Clan's classic "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing ta Fuck Wit" was originally titled "River Otters Ain't Nuthing ta Fuck Wit." Unfortunately, their label asked the group to change the song's title and lyrics—a concession that, in his final interview, Ol' Dirty Bastard noted was his "biggest regret."

In memoriam of O.D.B., this week's Otter Friday theme is "River otters ain't nuthing ta fuck wit." In the following videos, we shall see river otters teach this important lesson to a lion and a crocodile. Then we shall see river otters taking a well-earned break and enjoying the whimsical, carefree delights of river otter life.

See you next Otter Friday!

Welcome back to Otter Friday, your only reason for getting out of bed this morning!

There's no way we're topping last week's expedition to see real live otters... but you know what? It's almost Father's Day! And you know who's the best father in all the animal kingdom? Simon the Asian Small-Clawed River Otter! For real! He even has an award to prove it! Simon is the greatest.

Okay so before anybody obnoxious gets all, "Whaaa, Simon wasn't even in that last video, whaaa, how do we know there were even any dad otters at all in that last video, whaaa, Simon would never let his otter pups get that fat," please be aware that the last video was chosen because of—PLOT TWIST!—a human dad! From the video's description:

I visited the London Zoo with my father and just before closing time we came across these otters begging for food. They're my father's favorite animals, so it was a great day for him.

See? That's great! Fathers: Whether you're an otter or a limey, ya gotta love 'em!

See you next Otter Friday!

• OTTER FRIDAY A real-life river otter... RIGHT HERE IN PORTLAND!

Greetings, loyal Otter Friday readers! Mercury Otter Correspondents Alex and Erik here! We promised you last week that this week's post would be something of splendor. And of course we didn't let you down. Did you guess what we had in store? Doubtful.

... Unless, that is, you guessed we'd be going on a special, behind-the-scenes visit to the otters at the Oregon Zoo! Because that's exactly what we did!

A few weeks back, the zoo started promoting our weekly Otter Friday post on their Twitter feed. Intrigued and flattered by their flirtatious interest, we politely asked them if, perhaps, sometime, we might be able to come visit their river and sea otters. Not only did we get an invite, but we were taken on a fantastic V.I.P. tour of both the river and sea otter habitats... and we got to talk to friendly zookeepers! Yes. That's what we did on our Monday afternoon. What did you do on your Monday afternoon? A bunch of bullshit, probably. Meanwhile, our Monday (we called it "Otter Monday"!) was the single best day of both of our lives.

And we'd like to share it with you.

This was our first stop. Jenny DeGroot, the zoo's marine life zookeeper and sea otter lead (a title that she has earned, while the rest of us shall merely strive for it our entire lives) introduced us to the zoo's two aging sea otters, Eddie and Thelma. This is Thelma:

• THELMA Getting food out of a giant water jug LIKE A BOSS.

Continue reading »

Every Friday, Alex Zielinski and I make your goddamn week with Otter Friday! You're welcome! This week's theme: baby otters learning to swim!

See you next Otter Friday... which, just as a heads up, will be a VERY SPECIAL OTTER FRIDAY. We aren't going to let the cat otter out of the bag by telling you why it's going to be a Very Special Otter Friday, but trust us... it will be.

Otter Friday just surpassed Google to be the biggest thing on the internet! It is a cool Blogtown series in which Alex Zielinski and I find great videos of otters and put them up here so the whole world can enjoy them. This week's theme: Nobody puts otters in the corner.

See you next Otter Friday!

Otter Friday has the potential to bring about world peace! It is a cool Blogtown series in which Alex Zielinski and I find neat otter videos. This week's Otter Friday theme: OTTERS... PLAYING THE PIANO?!

See you next Otter Friday!

Otter Friday is the best thing on the internet! It is when Alex Zielinski and I find cool otter videos and share them with you! This week's theme: OTTERS OF THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN!

See you next Otter Friday!

Have no fear, faithful Otter Friday fans, I've taken over the post while Erik is away. This week's theme is talented otters!

Also, thanks to the folks at the Oregon Zoo for giving Otter Friday a tweet shout-out!

Otter Friday is a cool Blogtown series where I post videos of otters!

Alex Zielinski likes otters too, she helps!

Here are the otter videos we like this week! They are snow-related! Winter is coming, otters!

See you next Otter Friday!

Otter Friday is a cool Blogtown series where I post videos of otters!

Alex Zielinski found some of these otter videos! She thinks otters are neat too!

See you next Otter Friday!