(KRON) -- Two sea otters who were rescued as pups from Central Coast beaches are making their public debut Tuesday at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Suri and Willow, now 4 years old, will join their new raftmates Ivy, Opal and Selka in the aquarium’s beloved sea otter exhibit. Suri, whose name is der ived from “Big Sur,” was rescued at Asilomar State Beach at 4 weeks old in January 2022, the aquarium said. Willow is named after Willow Creek Beach Day Use Area in Monterey and was rescued at 6 weeks old in March 2022 from Carmel State Beach. Prior to their arrival at Monterey Bay Aquarium, the two southern sea otters were cared for at Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach and Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Suri and Willow, the southern sea otters (Photo: Monterey Bay Aquarium) “Now, the otters return to Monterey Bay Aquarium as excellent candidates for the Sea Otter Surrogacy Program,” aquarium officials said. “In addition to serving as species ambassadors at the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Sea Otter Exhibit and livecam, Suri and Willow can help other orphaned pups in the future. Resident sea otters may act as adoptive mothers or companions to stranded young pups, teaching them the skills they will need to survive in the wild, such as grooming and foraging.” Commercial salmon fishing to open in California for the first time since 2022 Southern sea otters are federally listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act and are on the red endangered list of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). The current southern sea otter population averages around 3,000 individuals, according to the aquarium. ...read more read less