IT seems to have started with a Russian massacre that followed a dispute over ownership of a bunch of dead otters.

Nearly 900 dead otters were found after the tanker spilled almost 11 million gallons of crude oil after striking a reef in Prince William Sound in March 1989.

Pitt gathered up all the wrinkles of his face, spat, and passed on with his dead otter.

This time not a single dead otter was found - a clue, he said, that "something really weird was going on."

They give dull parties and cheap presents, and they enjoy the same general regard and esteem as a dead otter.

Some 250 dead otters, most of which were already dead when found by search teams, have been collected for autopsies by pathologists.

Of dead otters, 62 percent had antibodies.

Six dead sea otters have washed ashore in the last several days, bringing to 45 the number of dead or stranded otters in California in April.

But even that plan, Mr. Sanders said, did not anticipate the recent surge in dead or stranded otters.

In addition, five dead seals and two live seals have been identified as oil casualties, as well as a dead otter.