Study Confirms Monterey Bay Aquarium Surrogate-Reared Sea Otters Helped Restore Threatened Population

The population of threatened southern sea otters in Elkhorn Slough, an estuary in Central California, has made a significant comeback as a result of Monterey Bay Aquarium's Sea Otter Program. A newly-published study in Oryx--The International Journal of Conservation documents 15 years of research showing how the program helped restore the population in the coastal estuary, with surrogate-reared otters and their descendants accounting for more than 50 percent of observed population growth during that period. The study's findings also demonstrate the potential benefits of reintroducing otters into other California estuaries where otter populations once thrived.