An aquarium in the US has apologised after calling a sea otter fat using "problematic" language.

Monterey Bay Aquarium posted a picture of the mammal to Twitter, with a comment that uses African American vernacular to describe the otter’s body.

They wrote: "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," the tweet continued.

The tweet garnered more than 49,000 likes and was retweeted over 14,000 times.

However it was also highly-criticised, prompting the aquarium to issue an apology acknowledging it had used "problematic and insensitive" references.

"This is shamefully appropriative language," one user commented.

Others voiced concerns that using language associated with black women’s bodies to describe an animal was dehumanising.

"We’re posting here in the thread so that people who have engaged with this tweet will join us in our learning moment," the aquarium apologised.

"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."

The aquarium is also answering questions about the actual photo as Abby looks overweight in it, but this is apparently not the case in reality.

Christine DeAngelo, the aquarium’s curator of mammals, told the Los Angeles Times that the 11-year-old otter weighs a healthy 46 pounds.

“That’s not blubber or anything,” she said. “It’s just the angle of her hips and the way she’s rolled. She’s one of our most photogenic animals.”

The Twitter furore has ignited ongoing debate about social media culture, as some users thought the aquarium was right to apologise, while others claim it’s "peak 2018".

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