T-shirt worn by Taylor Swift sparks $2M windfall for sea otters

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A Northern California Aquarium has raised more than $2 million for sea otter conservation in just two days. All it took was Taylor Swift in a vintage t-shirt.

Swift wore a vintage Monterey Bay Aquarium otter t-shirt to celebrate the release of her new film. Album “Life of a Dancer”sending its die-hard fans on a quest to find the shirt, which was last released in the 1990s. After the aquarium was inundated with calls for a T-shirt featuring two otters swimming on their backs, it decided Thursday to reissue the garment as part of a special campaign to raise $1.3 million, a reference to Swift's favorite number, said Liz McDonald, the aquarium's director of content strategy.

The aquarium met and exceeded its fundraising goal for the sea otter conservation program in less than eight hours, averaging about $100,000 in sales every 15 minutes, McDonald said. Donors who donate at least $65.13 to the newest fundraising campaign to help injured and orphaned otters will receive a T-shirt in the mail, McDonald said.

“Yesterday afternoon when we reached our goal, we definitely had a little dance party with Taylor Swift in the office,” she said.

The aquarium began accepting pre-orders and had raised more than $2 million by Friday afternoon, according to its website.

How Swift acquired the T-shirt, which was last produced more than 32 years ago when she was just 3 years old, remains a mystery.

She and fiancé Travis Kelsey were recorded visiting nearby Carmel, but MacDonald said the aquarium was unaware the couple had been at their store.

McDonald said the staff had fun speculating about Swift's interest in the T-shirt.

When Taylor announced the release of her new album on Kelsey's New Heights Podcast a couple of weeks ago, the couple joked a little about how he loves otters and loves sending her videos of the furry sea creatures.

“One of my favorite theories is that we have a sea otter named Opal in our exhibit, and fans named her in an online poll, and I wonder if Taylor Swift might have been one of the people who voted for the name Opal,” McDonald said, adding that opal is Kelsey's native stone and that Opalite is the name of one of Swift's songs.

Whatever the reason, the aquarium and Liberty Graphics, the employee-owned T-shirt printing company, are enjoying the moment.

“This is a Maine-based company that was caught off guard as much as we were, but also excited to be a part of this amazing moment that does so much for sea otters and ocean conservation,” MacDonald said.

Liberty Graphics will use 100% cotton and water-based inks to produce the T-shirts, which are more environmentally friendly and sustainable, she said.

“We are also working to ensure that packaging is plastic-free,” she added.

The company, which has 50 employees, typically produces 1,500 shirts a day, said Matt Enos, the company's manager.

Enos said that starting Monday, the company will likely have to focus most of its resources on fulfilling T-shirt orders from Swifties.

“We definitely didn't envision something this big, but it's a pretty good problem to have,” he said.