Meet the elephant hawk moth
Rosa and Selka are two rescued sea otters living in the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, US. They are taking part in a special project, helping smaller rescued sea otter pups return to the wild by acting as surrogate mothers (mothers who look after children that are not their own) to the pups.
Rosa and Selka cannot be released themselves because they have become too used to living with humans. However, together with their surrogate mum teammates, they are doing important work teaching the new rescued pups some sea otter tricks.
They show the little ones how to crack open tricky seafood, like clams and mussels, and how to eat crab. They also protect them when they meet the other sea otters and show them how to behave like an otter in the wild. So far, Rosa has raised 15 pups and Selka has raised three.
The aquarium’s staff have treated more than 876 sea otters and released about 100 rescued pups back into the wild.