YouTube celebrity otter dies in Vancouver

An otter that delighted Vancouver Public Aquarium visitors for almost two decades andmillions of viewers on the internet in recent years has died.

Nyac, a 20-year-old female sea otter, succumbed to chronic lymphatic leukemia, zoo officials said Tuesday.

Nyac was among eight sea ottersbrought to the aquarium following the massive Exxon Valdez oil spill that devastated Prince William Sound,Alaska, on March 24, 1989.

Staff said Nyac had been showing signs of her advanced age for the last couple of years.

Footageof Nyac and Milo, another otter, holding hands and cavorting at the aquarium has becomea popular video on the YouTube website, logging more than 11,000,000 viewings to date.