The Marine Mammal Center

The Marine Mammal Center is the world’s largest marine mammal hospital and education center, a critical first responder to the threats facing our ocean, and a leading contributor to the global body of research and knowledge about marine mammal medicine and health.

The Center shares its more than four decades of experience responding to marine mammals in distress to help address a growing rescue and response need for marine mammals everywhere. Its ultimate goal is to support a worldwide network capable of responding to every marine mammal in need.

The greatest threats to marine mammals are often caused directly or indirectly by people, but we can also be their greatest champions. Animals rescued by the Center reveal threats facing our ocean, such as toxins and pollution, depleted fish stocks, increasing prevalence of ocean trash, and warming water. The Center is committed to being a champion for ocean health and a voice for the patients it cares for. In order to conserve the ocean environment, the Center engages communities to become part of the solution. By expanding access to educational resources and learning opportunities, the Center also aims to inspire the next generation of engaged citizens with opportunities to address ocean health threats. As is increasingly clear and even stated in the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development goals, healthy oceans and marine biodiversity are critical to the health of all people and the planet we share.

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Monterey Bay Aquarium

The Monterey Bay Aquarium, opened in 1984, has a mission to inspire conservation of the ocean. The Aquarium is a place for people of all backgrounds and ages to discover and fall in love with ocean life. But Aquarium scientists are also rebuilding sea otter populations, transforming fisheries and aquaculture around the world and working to protect California’s coastal ecosystems.

The Giorgi Family Foundation supports the Aquarium’s sea otter conservation work, including a program they pioneered to pair orphaned sea otter pups with non-releasable female exhibit otters. These surrogate-raised otters and their wild kin contribute to the recovery of wetlands and coastal ecosystems. Sea otters may have cute faces and fluffy fur, but they also play a critical role in ecosystem health—eating species that otherwise threaten coastal kelp forests and eelgrass growth in estuaries.

The Aquarium is partnering with other accredited institutions to share their model and best practices in sea otter surrogacy. These collaborations will contribute to a long-term goal to restore sea otter populations to more of their historical range along California’s coast. 

Learn more on the Monterey Bay Aquarium website or the Sea Otter page.

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