Watch: Monterey Bay Aquarium releases video of sea otter pups with their surrogate mothers

MONTEREY, Calif. (KION) This week is Sea Otter Awareness week, and in honor of the occasion, the Monterey Bay Aquarium released video of some of its rescued sea otter pups interacting with their surrogate mothers.

The otters are normally kept behind the scenes to make sure they do not get comfortable around humans, according to aquarium officials, but since the aquarium has been closed to guests, they have been able to spend time in the exhibit.

The aquarium said the two surrogate mothers are resident otters Selka and Kit. Selka's pup is 18 weeks old and was stranded near Pismo Beach when she was one day old. Kit's pup is nine weeks old and was found stranded on Cayucos Beach when he was about two weeks old.

The surrogate mothers will practice diving and exploring with the pups, but they will also teach them to feed themselves and groom so the pups can be returned to the wild, according to the aquarium.

Southern sea otters are a threatened species on the Central Coast.