When sea otters Chugach and Alki moved to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium from Seattle Aquarium three months ago, they didn't leave their West Coast palates behind.

The 2-year-old half-brothers have an innate taste for the best seafood -- and lots of it.

"I'm stunned at what they eat," said Henry Kacprzyk, curator of Kids Kingdom and the man who does the zoo's grocery shopping. "These two animals are by far the most expensive to feed for their size."

	Matt Freed, Post-Gazette photos A sea otter chows down on the good stuff at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. Click photo for larger image.

Sure, the elephants eat huge amounts of food, but they put quantity ahead of quality. The otters, though, "they're the high end," Mr. Kacprzyk said. "They're restaurant-quality seafood."

In fact, the shrimp, clams, crabs and fish they relish could be served at fine dining establishments anywhere because it's all human grade.

"The only thing we give them that would not normally be consumed by humans is krill, which is a smaller shrimp," the curator said. "We're converting over to a supplier that is [raising it] sustainably."

Urchins, a staple of the wild sea otter diet, are not commercially available, and Allan Marshall, curator of aquatic life, is not likely to give up any from his tanks, Mr. Kacprzyk said. Raising seafood is out of the question, too.

"Believe me, I've brought that up," he said. "It would be nice, but it's not a practical solution, going through as much as we do. We'd have to have an aquarium specifically to feed these animals."

Chugach weighs 62 pounds and Alki 57, and they eat the equivalent of 25 percent, roughly 14 pounds, of their body weight daily, spread out over five meals.

Kathy Suthard, lead keeper, and Mark McDonough, keeper, feed the sea otters at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. Click photo for larger image.

"These sea otters eat the same amount as the polar bears," who weigh 10 times more, Mr. Kacprzyk said.

Blame it on their metabolism. Sea otters keep moving, and they don't have an insulating blubber layer to help regulate body temperature. Instead, he said, they must rely on dense fur, up to 1 million hairs per square inch, to stay warm.

When Mr. Kacprzyk planned a food budget for the sea otters, he estimated a yearly cost of $13,200. After consulting with Seattle Aquarium experts, the diet was revised to include more variety and to experiment with products more readily available from the East Coast.

Pellets and other concentrated food products haven't yet been developed for many exotic animals.

Freight costs rose with gas prices, catches that didn't meet expectations have driven up prices and "more and more of the seafood that is caught is going to human consumption," Mr. Kacprzyk said.

"It's getting difficult to find non-restaurant quality grade fish, say for sea lions," he noted. "These animals are increasingly being pushed, as far as getting seafood, whether they're animals in the wild or in captivity."

Contamination of seafood with mercury and other dangerous chemicals, such as PCBs, compounds the problems.

So with no coupons to clip, the grocery bill for the sea otters will soar to perhaps $40,000 this year, the amount that Mr. Kacprzyk had anticipated shelling out for both the sea otters and walruses, which have yet to be acquired.

He's hoping to land a seafood daddy.

"We need a sponsor," Mr. Kacprzyk said. "It would be nice to have somebody say, 'I can bring seafood in at a fraction of cost.'"