Mother knows best as sea otter adopts orphaned pup at California aquarium
An orphaned sea otter pup named Sunny was successfully paired with surrogate mother Rey at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California, as part of a surrogacy program aimed at rehabilitating and preserving southern sea otters. Rey, who was once stranded herself, is teaching Sunny essential survival behaviors despite both being non-releasable due to their familiarity with humans. The program, run jointly with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, supports the recovery of the threatened southern sea otter population along California’s coast.
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Baby sea otter, Sunny, left, and Rey, her adoptive mother, eat at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California, this week. Photograph: Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenBaby sea otter, Sunny, left, and Rey, her adoptive mother, eat at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California, this week. Photograph: Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times/Getty ImagesCaliforniaMother knows best as sea otter adopts orphaned pup at California aquariumRey is teaching Sunny, aged about two weeks, all her adopted baby needs to know to fend for herselfLong Beach PostFri 1 May 2026 10.32 EDTSharePrefer the Guardian on GoogleBefore last month, a young southern sea otter named Rey would never have imagined she would be a mother.That changed when she met Sunny, a…
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