This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – Looking for something to cheer you up? Check out the hashtag #CuteAnimalTweetoff if you have a few minutes or even an hour to burn.

What started as an innocent (and adorable) tweet from the National Zoo about a newborn gray seal pup led to an all out Twitter war between zoos and aquariums across the country to see who could send out the animal pic most likely to make you say, “Awwwwwwww!”

Sarah Hill, who lives in Virginia, tweeted to the Virginia Aquarium, which then tweeted out a photo of an otter and an osprey and referenced the National Zoo’s tweet by saying “challenge accepted,” and “We see (your) seal pup, and raise an otter/osprey combo.”

You can imagine what happened after that. Tweets and retweets from zoos and aquariums across the country began pouring onto the site with some of the cutest animal pictures you’ve seen ranging from otters to pandas to penguins and beyond.

And before long, the Twitter war made it international with institutions across the globe showing off their cutest animals.