Meet our otters

Willow was found stranded on the sand on Carmel State Beach and was admitted to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Sea Otter Program in 2022 as a 6-week-old pup. Like Suri, she was deemed non-releasable by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and was reared by our sea otter conservation partners at Aquarium of the Pacific.

Willow is an industrious, resourceful, and dexterous sea otter who enjoys playing and wrestling with her raft mates. At the Shedd Aquarium, she became an ambassador for her species while receiving expert care and training from their mammal care team. After returning to Aquarium of the Pacific after three years in Chicago, Willow was identified as an excellent candidate for sea otter surrogacy and debuted on our exhibit in April 2026.

Suri was found alone in the waves at Asilomar State Beach as a four-week-old pup in 2022. She was rescued and brought to our Sea Otter Program. After rehabilitation in our care, Suri moved to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California, to be reared behind the scenes by their sea otter care experts.

Suri’s bold and independent personality shone through as she charmed guests at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago for three years, participating in public encounters and learning foundational skills like target training. She then returned to the Aquarium of the Pacific to learn advanced skills like foraging, tool use, and social dynamics. In April 2026, she returned to Monterey as both a resident otter and candidate for our Sea Otter Program.

Our newest sea otter, Opal, was found stranded as a pup near San Luis Obispo, 100 miles south of Monterey. After being deemed unreleasable by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, she spent a year behind the scenes before being introduced to the exhibit.

Opalescence is a beautiful shimmery phenomenon we see in the ocean, like on the inside of an abalone shell. Almost 30,000 people voted in our online poll and decided Opal was the perfect name for this sparkling gem of an otter!

Ivy was found stranded in November 2011 on Cayucos State Beach in San Luis Obispo County as a two-week-old pup. She was cared for by Sea Otter Program staff for seven weeks and then introduced to Toola—the Aquarium's most experienced surrogate mother at the time. After a number of factors interfered with her timely release, Ivy was declared non-releasable by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Ivy formally joined the sea otter exhibit in December 2012 at just over one year old and is now a surrogate mother to pups behind the scenes. She's earned the nickname "wild child" by Aquarium staff because of her liveliness during training. Ivy is named after a character in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.

Selka was found stranded in July of 2012 off Cayucos, California as a one-week-old pup. She was cared for at the Aquarium and released into the wild in June 2013. Unfortunately, eight weeks after release, she was found hauled out on Moss Landing Harbor with severe shark bite injuries. She underwent extensive surgery and recovery back at the Aquarium, and splashed back into the wild four months later. After several months in the wild, Selka was brought back to the Aquarium due to concerns about her health and several interactions with people. She was declared non-releasable by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Selka spent the next two years at Long Marine Lab, where she helped researchers understand how wild sea otters search for and acquire enough prey to survive in their ocean home. 

Selka joined our exhibit in August of 2016. She is clever with an easy-going and inquisitive nature. Selka is our second youngest otter and has chocolatey brown fur, making her one of the easier otters to spot on exhibit. And behind the scenes, she's proven herself to be a successful surrogate mother.