About Sea Otters

The California sea otter is an endangered species success story that is not quite successful. California sea otters are listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act and "depleted" under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

The sea otter is the smallest marine mammal in North America yet has a huge affect on its ecosystem, enhancing both diversity and primary productivity. Sea otters are known to be a keystone species, an indicator species and an umbrella species. They have a remarkable impact on conservation of the near-shore marine environment.

Sea otters are also charismatic, intelligent mammals that appeal to people all over the world.

Wiped out by the Pacific maritime fur trade, sea otters were believed to be extinct from California by the early 1900s. A small, remnant population of survivors was found living off the coast of Big Sur in 1938. Legal protections allowed the population to grow. The California population increased to 2,400 in 1995 before mysteriously beginning to decline. It began to grow again in 1999, and has grown in fits and starts until 2009, when the population entered another decline.

Sea Otters are Moving South! Learn more about the sea otters' expanding range!

Video Clips (To view these video clips, you'll need Windows media player.)

1. What an otter looks like on land
(High Resolution) [Format: Windows Size 4.39 MB]
(Low Resolution) [Format: Windows Size 701 KB]
 
2. What an otter looks like in the water
(High Resolution) [Format: Windows size 1.68 MB]
(Low Resolution) [Format: Windows Size 275 KB]