Rosa (sea otter)
 Rosa in 2023 | |
| Other name | Faye |
|---|---|
| Species | Sea otter (Enhydra lutris) |
| Sex | Female |
| Born | c. August 26, 1999 Monterey Bay, California, United States |
| Died | June 5, 2024 (aged 24) Monterey Bay Aquarium, California, United States |
| Cause of death | Euthanasia |
| Notable role | Surrogate sea otter mother and internet figure |
| Residence | Monterey Bay Aquarium |
| Named after | Rosa Martin, character from Tortilla Flat |
Rosa (c. August 26, 1999 – June 5, 2024) was a sea otter at Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California, United States. She was taken in by the aquarium after being found stranded on a beach at four weeks old. She was released into the wild in April 2000 before being returned to the aquarium in 2002 after she continued to interact with humans, posing a risk to herself and others. She was a surrogate mother for 15 orphaned otter pups at the aquarium and was the aquarium's oldest resident otter. She was also the subject of many charity livestreams in celebration of her birthday, hosted by content creator Douglas Wreden, known online as DougDoug.
As she grew older, Rosa's eyesight started to fail and she contracted a heart condition. She was euthanized on June 5, 2024, because of these health conditions.
Early life
Rosa was born in late August 1999, with August 26 generally observed as her birth date.[‡ 1] On September 26, 1999, she was found stranded between Sunset State Beach and Manresa State Beach in Santa Cruz County, California.[1][2] She was rescued and brought to Monterey Bay Aquarium. At the time, she was approximately four weeks old and weighed five pounds.[1] She was cared for before being released back into the wild in April 2000.[1] While she was in the wild, researchers at Monterey Bay Aquarium and scientists at the University of California studied her behavior, food intake, and body temperature.[3] She returned to the aquarium two years later because she continued to interact with humans by climbing on swimmers and kayakers, which the United States Fish and Wildlife Service considered to be a risk to herself and humans.[1][2][4]
Some of the otters at Monterey Bay Aquarium, including Rosa, are named after John Steinbeck characters. Rosa was named after a character from the short novel Tortilla Flat.[5] The aquarium originally named her Faye. However, another otter was named Mae, and Faye was deemed too similar.[6]
Appearance, habits, and care
Rosa was introduced to the sea otter exhibit on June 6, 2002.[7][8] She was characterized by her large figure with soft silver-colored fur and white freckles on her head.[9] She could be seen on the aquarium's live sea otter camera, and after feeding she normally rested on her back on the water's surface at the exhibit's central window. She would usually have her chin tucked into her chest as well as her tail wagging in the water. However, she would also swim with her head back.[10] Around the time she joined the aquarium, a sea otter recovery program was initiated. She was one of the first sea otters to be in the program,[11] raising 15 orphaned sea otter pups before retiring in 2019. This was the most sea otters fostered by any surrogate mother at the aquarium.[9][6] She did not, however, have any biological pups of her own.[11] Her last foster otter pups were released into the wild in October 2019.[12] One of the otters Rosa raised, Selka, stayed at the aquarium and also participated in the recovery program.[1][8]
Late in her life, Rosa was fatigued by a heart condition and limited eyesight. She was groomed regularly by a health monitoring team who performed training sessions that accommodated Rosa's limits. Rosa received a physical checkup three times a year that included radiographs, blood tests, and dental care. The aquarium staff built a ramp in 2013 to anticipate her developing arthritis.[‡ 2] Her diet was adjusted based on her weight which was regularly checked.[‡ 3]: 5:04 With training, Rosa, like other sea otters at the aquarium, was taught behaviors such as getting on weight scales,[‡ 3]: 15:41 allowing the use of eye drops on her,[‡ 4] sticking up her paws for inspection, and opening her mouth for inspection.[‡ 3]: 18:30
Melanie Oerter, the curator of marine mammals at Monterey Bay Aquarium, described Rosa as "one of [their] most playful sea otters, and even at 24 years old, she would still be seen frolicking and wrestling with the younger otters when she instigated it".[13] Oerter also described Rosa as calm and patient, but also defiant, saying that "[s]he would often just look at us or swim away".[13] Aquarium staff members described Rosa's parenting style as "gentle, unflustered, [and] chill".[11]
Birthday
| External video | |
|---|---|
 I threw a terrible birthday party for a sea otter, Wreden's first YouTube video about Rosa's birthday |
Streamer and YouTuber Douglas Wreden, known online as DougDoug, began hosting annual charity livestreams celebrating Rosa's birthday.[4][14] In 2019, he found Monterey Bay Aquarium's live sea otter camera during a livestream.[15] After he heard one of the announcers say that Rosa was the oldest otter at the aquarium, he contacted the aquarium and asked when Rosa's birthday was. Once they messaged back saying her birthday was on August 26, he threw an on-the-spot birthday livestream, with the proceeds of the stream going to Monterey Bay Aquarium.[15][‡ 5] Many of these streams featured aquatic-themed video game challenges,[15][‡ 6] with some featuring an art contest where his community created fan art dedicated to Rosa. These streams contributed to Rosa's popularity.[‡ 6]
Wreden and his community raised $320.18 for Rosa's 20th birthday in 2019; $2,676.31 for her 21st birthday in 2020; $14,172.19 for her 22nd birthday in 2021; $104,327.89 for her 23rd birthday in 2022; $302,014.21 for her 24th birthday in 2023; $625,375.68 on what would have been her 25th birthday in 2024;[‡ 7] and $565,875.38 for what would have been her 26th birthday in 2025.[‡ 8]
In late 2025, in a comment under one of his videos, Wreden said he would not host a charity stream in 2026, stating that "these last few years fundraisers have been a huge amount of work". He has stated, however, that he would like to do something for Rosa, but in a different format than the livestreams.[‡ 9]
Death
Rosa died on June 5, 2024, having been euthanized due to age-related health conditions.[2] She was the oldest sea otter at Monterey Bay Aquarium, living to be 24 years old.[10] Rosa was given a profile in The New York Times Magazine's The Lives They Lived annual commemoration for major figures who died in 2024.[11]
See also
- Opal (sea otter) – another sea otter at Monterey Bay Aquarium
- Sea otter conservation
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Herrera, James (August 31, 2021). "Monterey Bay Aquarium celebrates surrogate mom Rosa the otter's birthday". Monterey Herald. Archived from the original on September 3, 2021. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
- 1 2 3 Tom, Matthew (June 5, 2024). "Rosa, the Monterey Bay Aquarium's oldest resident sea otter, has died". SFGATE. Archived from the original on June 6, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ↑ "Fans mourn passing of Monterey Bay Aquarium's oldest otter". The Mercury News. June 14, 2024. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- 1 2 Mitchell, Bea. "Rosa, Monterey Bay Aquarium sea otter and social media star, dies | blooloop". blooloop.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2026. Retrieved June 15, 2026.
- ↑ Painter, Alysia Gray (August 31, 2021). "This otter, a surrogate mom to many, is celebrating a birthday". KNBC. Archived from the original on May 31, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
- 1 2 Sweeney, Don (June 6, 2024). "Oldest sea otter dies at Monterey Bay Aquarium. Rosa loved 'frolicking and wrestling'". The Sacramento Bee.
- ↑ Copitch, Josh (August 30, 2021). "Monterey Bay Aquarium to celebrate Rosa the otter's 22nd birthday". KSBW. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved July 17, 2026.
- 1 2 Parker, Jordan (June 7, 2024). "Monterey Bay Aquarium mourns the loss of eldest sea otter". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on October 17, 2025. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
- 1 2 Teague, Courtney (September 3, 2021). "This CA sea otter just celebrated her 22nd birthday". San Francisco, CA Patch. Archived from the original on May 30, 2022. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
- 1 2 "Rosa, Monterey Bay Aquarium's oldest otter and a social media star, dies at 24". Los Angeles Times. June 7, 2024. Archived from the original on May 15, 2026. Retrieved July 19, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Wollen, Malia (December 20, 2024). "Rosa, the orphaned sea otter who became a foster mother to 15 pups". The New York Times Magazine. Archived from the original on January 6, 2025. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
- ↑ "These sea otters adopt orphaned pups and raise them to return to the wild". WDAF-TV. September 25, 2019. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
- 1 2 Schmalz, David (June 6, 2024). "Rosa, the Monterey Bay Aquarium's oldest sea otter, dies at 24". Monterey County NOW. Archived from the original on July 10, 2026. Retrieved June 15, 2026.
- ↑ Tovar, Ricardo (June 6, 2024). "Oldest Monterey Bay Aquarium sea otter Rosa dies at age 24". KSBW. Retrieved July 24, 2026.
- 1 2 3 "YouTuber raises $100,000 for Monterey Bay Aquarium". KSBW. October 5, 2022. Archived from the original on November 7, 2022. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
Primary sources
In the text, these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):
- ↑ @MontereyAq (September 13, 2019). "Thank you SO much for the donation @DougDoug_W and thanks for the kind words Twitch chat! Apawlogies for the confusion over #WhenIsRosasBirthday—you had it right, August 26th! We sealebrated her on the 28th this year to make sure her birthday enrichment was top-notch" (Tweet). Retrieved July 17, 2019 – via Twitter.
- ↑ "Caring for Rosa as she ages". montereybayaquarium.org. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
- 1 2 3 Special #SeaOtterAwarenessWeek enrichment with aquarist Stephany! | Live from the aquarium Archived May 30, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, September 23, 2021, event occurs at 5:04. Retrieved May 30, 2022 – via YouTube.
- ↑ "All about our animal training and enrichment". montereybayaquarium.org. Retrieved August 25, 2026.
- ↑ Wreden, Doug (September 12, 2019). I threw a terrible birthday party for a sea otter. Event occurs at 0:14. Retrieved June 21, 2026 – via YouTube.
- 1 2 "Extraordinary birthday shell-ebrations for Rosa the sea otter Archived July 14, 2026, at the Wayback Machine". montereybayaquarium.org. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ↑ "Rosa the Sea Otter Archived July 25, 2022, at the Wayback Machine". DougDoug. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
- ↑ "Rosa & Monterey Bay Aquarium 2025!". tiltify.com. Retrieved September 11, 2025.
- ↑ Wreden, Doug (December 19, 2025). Thanks for 7 years of DougDoug. Archived from the original on July 13, 2026. Retrieved July 14, 2026 – via YouTube.
...And at the same time, these last few years fundraisers have been a HUGE amount of work ... So the MBA charity for 2026 is currently to-be-decided, it won't be like the Rosa birthday streams but I would ideally like to do *something*, just in a very different format, and I'll just see how that develops over the next few months.