Saving Sea Otters Through Surrogacy

The Sea Otter Surrogacy Program was developed and pioneered by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, an accredited Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) institution, which has successfully released rescued sea otters for four decades. Within the surrogacy program, non-releasable female otters raise rescued pups at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Aquarium of the Pacific for return to the wild.This surrogacy program can give orphaned sea otter pups a second chance at life in the wild, and help the wild population recover to its historical levels in California.

In fall 2022, Shedd welcomed two, non-releasable female otters, Suri and Willow. After more than two years of growing and learning with us, Suri and Willow returned to surrogacy program partner, Aquarium of the Pacific, in spring 2025 to take the next step in their journey to becoming surrogate mothers.

Soon after, another non-releasable female otter named Jade joined our raft at Shedd with the same goal of surrogacy training in mind, continuing our commitment to this incredibly important conservation effort.

In the wild, sea otter pups typically stay with their mother for about six months until they develop survival skills. Mothers will teach their pups how to groom their dense fur, which is critical to keep them warm in the chilly Pacific Ocean. Sea otters have the densest fur of any animal, with about 1 million hairs per square inch, and they spend a lot of time maintaining it.

Mothers also show their pups how to dive to forage for food. Sea otters need to eat 25 percent of their body weight each day and can occasionally dive up to 250 feet deep to dig for clams or search for crustaceans in crevices. To eat that food, sea otter moms will show their pups how to use tools. They’ll often use a rock or another shelled food item to crack open hard-shelled prey.

Orphaned pups need to learn these same skills from a surrogate mother before being returned to the wild. To best prepare non-releasable female otters to take on future roles as mothers, Shedd’s expert animal care team encourages them to practice those wild skills like diving and foraging by scattering and hiding food throughout their habitat. The team also encourages the otters to retrieve objects, much like retrieving and carrying a pup.

A 2019 study in “Oryx — The International Journal of Conservation”, led by Monterey Bay Aquarium, followed 37 orphaned pups that were raised by surrogate mothers and released between 2002 and 2016 in Elkhorn Slough, a coastal wetland near Monterey. It showed that surrogate-reared sea otters survive at a rate comparable to that of their wild counterparts and they contributed to population growth in the Monterey Bay coastal estuary where they were released.

Other studies show that there is potential for sea otters to reshape, revitalize and restore coastal habitats where populations were removed during the fur trade in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Sea otters are listed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). The subspecies of sea otters in California, known as southern sea otters, are listed as threatened on the U.S. Endangered Species List.

Sea otters are a keystone species, meaning that they serve as the “backbone” of an ecosystem and are a good indicator of ocean health. Specifically, otters keep kelp forests healthy by eating sea urchins and other invertebrates that graze on giant kelp. In coastal wetlands, they’ll eat crabs that prey on sea slugs, which in turn feed on the algae that grows on eel grasses. If sea otters disappeared, their ecosystems would become unbalanced and unhealthy. Urchins would strip the kelp beds and algae would smother the eel grasses — both habitats that many species depend on for food, shelter and nurseries.

In tandem with our support of the surrogacy program, Shedd has pledged to safeguard southern sea otters through Reverse the Red, a coalition supporting partners working to halt extinctions, reverse declines shown on the IUCN Red List and recover species.

Each of Shedd’s sea otters eats 25 pounds of sustainable, restaurant quality seafood per day. Shedd is committed to supporting sustainable fisheries — to protect the wild counterparts of the animals in our care, including sea otters, and ensure future generations of humans have access to healthy, abundant seafood.

Make sure to follow the sustainable seafood recommended by Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch when purchasing seafood or visit Shedd’s restaurant partners to enjoy a tasty, sustainable meal. A visit to Shedd, the purchase of a membership or a donation would not only help us sustain our resident sea otters, and 32,000 other animals, but also fulfill our mission to spark curiosity, compassion and conservation for the aquatic animal world.

Jade's journey from California to Chicago was supported by the Sea Otter Foundation & Trust, who work to ensure the survival of sea otters in their habitats.