Remembering Betty White

The internet is filled with videos and photos of Betty White with animals—delighting in her pet dogs, feeding marshmallows to a grizzly bear, hugging a giraffe, and cozying up with a python.

But she had never interacted with sea otters before visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

A hero for sea otters

Betty White had a front-row seat to watch the recovery of California’s threatened sea otter population from her house in Monterey County, which overlooked Carmel Bay and Point Lobos.

As an Aquarium member and donor, she learned about our Sea Otter Program and spoke with program staff about our pioneering work to rescue, rehabilitate, and release stranded sea otters.

“When she first moved into her home, it was extremely rare for her to see an otter in the bay,” says Mary Mullen, who worked closely with Betty as a member of the Aquarium’s development team.

In a Sea Otter Program testimonial, Betty wrote: "It's so important that we do all we can—and more—to protect sea otters for future generations … I hope with all my heart that you will send your contribution today and join me in helping the Aquarium save sea otters and all the vulnerable ocean animals."

Since that endorsement of our program, sea otter populations have made a comeback along the Central Coast, and Betty started seeing wild otters all the time. 

“A curious mind”

Given her lifelong love of animals, it’s no surprise that Betty White became an Aquarium member soon after we opened in 1984.

She attributes her love of animals to her parents, Horace and Tess White, who were “genuine animal nuts,” she wrote in her book, Betty & Friends. They fed her interest in wildlife with camping trips in the High Sierra wilderness and regular visits to the zoo. “I am eternally grateful that they have passed much of that passion on to me,” Betty said. 

Betty knew our Executive Director Julie Packard, who remembers her fondly as someone who valued scientific research and animal welfare. “She had a curious mind and always asked lots of questions about what our team was learning to recover sea otters in the wild,” Julie said.

Tess, the sea otter named after Betty’s mother

As part of our sea otter conservation efforts, we tag and track otters in the wild to observe their feeding and parenting behavior.

In 2016, one of the sea otters that we’d studied in the wild for a decade became stranded and was brought to the Aquarium. Because of her age and health condition, she was deemed non-releasable by federal wildlife officials and given a permanent home at the Aquarium.

That meant we needed to give her a name and not just a flipper-tag number. 

To honor Betty, we wanted to choose a name related to her or her work. We ultimately decided on “Tess” in a nod to Betty’s mother.

Betty was ecstatic to hear of our name choice and fully supportive of the decision. We gave Betty a photo of Tess in the wild with the last of many pups she had raised successfully along the Monterey Peninsula.

Emergency penguin airlift

Betty White didn’t just love sea otters—she helped rescue them (along with 19 African penguins!).

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans and surrounding areas, leaving more than 1,800 people dead, displacing tens of thousands more, and causing $125 billion in damage.

The Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans was in a desperate situation.

It had lost most of its living collection when the power grid failed and backup generators ran out of fuel. It needed to find emergency homes for surviving animals, including a colony of 19 African penguins and two sea otters, Buck and Emma.

We quickly got in touch and offered to take them in.

To rescue the animals, we planned an emergency middle-of-the-night airlift from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Monterey. An urgent rescue mission of this scale required a large amount of resources, butBetty White stepped up immediately—she made a $50,000 gift, covering half the cost of the flight and inspiring other donors to join her. The sea otters and penguins returned to New Orleans the following May—a happy ending.

Betty at the operating table

Betty also left a lasting impression on the Aquarium staff and volunteers she met.Dr. Mike Murray, our director of veterinary services, put Betty to work during one of her visits to the vet lab.

Wearing a medical cap, gown, and gloves, Betty assisted in fitting a sea otter with an implanted tag. “She was so worried that she was going to pass out and kept telling me so. But she did great,” said Dr. Mike.

Dr. Mike also remembers her humility, which he experienced firsthand during a walk through the exhibit galleries. Many people recognized her and wanted to interact, and she greeted each one with patience and warmth. 

One of Betty’s favorite stops at the Aquarium was always the Sea Otters exhibit. Chris DeAngelo, our curator of marine mammals at the time, brought Betty behind the scenes of the Sea Otters exhibit on many occasions. She would stay there for a long time, observing their behaviors and training progress, and even trying her hand at feedings.

“Class for days”

Paul Clarkson, our director of husbandry operations, toured Betty through our exhibits and behind the scenes.

“Betty was smart as heck, had class for days, and was filled with grace and gratitude. She was highly engaged and genuinely fascinated by all that she saw,” Paul said. 

Paul had anticipated Betty’s visit as a one-time occurrence, but a few months later, she returned with her friend Tom Sullivan, who was blind.“ Tom had Betty and me describe seahorses to him in minute detail,” Paul said. “They were both so genuine, so positive, and so enthusiastic—the favorite celebrity tour of my career, for sure.”

Naming our Ocean Legacy Circle in her honor

To honor her lasting impression on the Aquarium and her love for wildlife, we have renamed our planned giving program the Betty White Ocean Legacy Circle.

This giving program recognizes individuals who, like Betty, have included the Aquarium in their estate plans. Most of the proceeds are directed to our endowment funds, which provide an enduring source of support for our conservation and education programs.

If one thing defined Betty White’s approach to philanthropy, it was the enthusiasm with which she encouraged others to step up and do their part. She understood that good things happen when we work together to make a difference.