The pair was caught on camera while visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Jan 25, 2014 02:16 GMT  ·  By

The Monterey Bay Aquarium in the United States was not very long ago visited by a wild otter and its pup, and several pictures showing the pair swimming around the facility's Great Tide Pool are now bouncing back and forth between internauts.

The one above, which I for one think is the cutest, shows the baby otter taking a break from swimming and enjoying a much needed nap on top of its mother's chest.

What's more, the latter looks almost as if it were giving it a kiss, which is probably why, the more I look at the photo, the more I feel like I'm about to experience a cuteness overdose.

Zoo Borns tells us that, back in the 1700s, sea otters just like these two balls of fur were hunted almost up to the point of extinction. Hence, the species is now considered an endangered one.

The animals have made a comeback in some areas along the northern and eastern coasts of the North Pacific Ocean, but they are still in need of legal protection.