NEED TO KNOW
- Southern sea otters Suri and Willow returned to California’s Aquarium of the Pacific after two years at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium
- In Chicago, the two otters learned how to be surrogate moms to orphaned otter pups
- Now, Suri and Willow will put these skills to the test through the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Sea Otter Surrogacy Program
Southern sea otters Suri and Willow are ready for next Mother’s Day.
The rescued female otters, who are unable to return to the wild, were temporarily relocated from their home at the Aquarium of the Pacific in California to Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium two years ago.
Over the past 24 months in the Midwest, the otters have mastered motherhood, learning from the staff at Shedd the skills they need to be surrogate moms to orphaned otter pups. Equipped with their new arsenal of parenting talents, Suri and Willow recently returned to the Aquarium of the Pacific to start putting their skills to the test.
Suri and Willow will have the opportunity to teach and care for orphaned otter pups brought to the West Coast aquarium, helping the young animals recover and hopefully return to the wild through the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Sea Otter Surrogacy Program, of which the Aquarium of the Pacific is a partner.
Through the program, trained otters like Suri and Willow help teach orphaned otter pups the essential survival skills they need to know before they can confidently return to the wild.
Shedd Aquarium staffers escorted Suri and Willow back to the Aquarium of the Pacific. They returned from the California destination with a new otter, temporarily being called Otter 937, who will be the next student in Shedd’s surrogate otter parent training.
“This is a full circle moment as we deliver on our promise to prepare this pair to potentially help rescued pups return to the wild after learning critical life skills,” Andrea Oake, manager of sea otters and sea lions at Shedd, said in a statement. “As we say a bittersweet goodbye, we also start the process over again as we say hello to a two-year-old rescued otter until ready to return to our partners. Our care team will work diligently to set this sea otter up for success as a surrogate, too.”
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Otter 937 will have the same opportunities to practice her diving, foraging, and hunting skills, so she can hopefully pass those talents on to orphaned otter pups in the future. Like Suri and Willow, Otter 937 is non-releaseable. In 2022, rescuers from Monterey Bay Aquarium found Otter 937 as a stranded two-week-old pup in Marina, California. They provided her with around-the-clock care for the next six weeks before moving her to the Aquarium of the Pacific for continued rehabilitation.
Otter 937 didn’t end up being a candidate for release because of her dependence on humans, but she can make a second chance at the wild world possible for orphaned pups. For now, she is focused on getting acclimated to Shedd and her new friends and caretakers.
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