Sea Otter Facts, Video, and Sound - Enhydra lutris - Defenders of Wildlife
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The heaviest member of the weasel family, the sea otter is also the second smallest marine mammal. Sea otters have the densest fur in the animal kingdom, ranging from 250,000 to a million hairs per square inch, which insulates them and maintains warmth. Unlike other marine mammals, the sea otter does not have a layer of blubber (fat) to help keep it warm.
Fast Facts
Height: Length California sea otters: 4 feet; northern sea otters are slightly larger.
Weight: 45 lbs (females); 65 lbs (males). Northern sea otters can reach up to 100 pounds.
Lifespan: 10-15 years (males); 15-20 years (females)
Diet
Sea otters mainly eat urchins, abalone, mussels, clams, crabs, snails and about 40 other marine species. Sea otters eat approximately 25% of their weight in food each day!
Population
Historically, sea otters numbered between several hundred thousand to more than a million. But due to the fur trade, worldwide numbers plummeted down to a total of 1000-2000 in the early 1900s. As of 2009, the three-year running average is approximately 2,800 southern sea otters off the coast of California. There are between 64,600 and 77,300 northern sea otters residing in Alaska, Canada and Washington. There are approximately 15,000 in Russia and less than a dozen in Japan.
Range
The sea otter’s historic range stretched from Japan, along the coast of Siberia and the Aleutian Chain and down the Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California coast to Baja California. Currently sea otters can be found in California, Washington, Alaska, Canada, Russia, and Japan.
Behavior
Did You Know?
Sea otters spend much of their lives in the water and can dive up to 330 feet when foraging for food. They sometimes rest in coastal kelp forests, often draping the kelp over their bodies to keep from drifting away.
Sea otters live in shallow coastal waters off the northern Pacific. They are the only mammals other than primates, birds and a few other animals known to use tools. They use small rocks or other objects to pry shellfish from rocks and to hammer them open.
Sea otters spend much of their lives in the water and can dive up to 330 feet when foraging for food. They sometimes rest in coastal kelp forests, often draping the kelp over their bodies to keep from drifting away.
Reproduction
Mating Season: Throughout the year.
Gestation: 6-8 months
Litter Size: Generally one pup, but sea otters can give birth to twins.
Threats
Oil spills, habitat loss and degradation, food limitation, disease, fishing gear entrapment and conflict with shellfish fisheries. Learn more about the threats facing sea otters >>
Defenders at Work
Every year, Defenders of Wildlife organizes and promotes Sea Otter Awareness Week to teach people about the integral role that sea otters play in the nearshore marine ecosystem and to promote research and conservation programs. Learn more >>
Legal Status/Protection
- Endangered Species Act: California, or southern, sea otters are listed as threatened under the federal ESA and fully protected under California state law. The Southwest stock of northern sea otters in Alaska is listed as threatened under the ESA. In Canada, the sea otter population in British Columbia is classified as threatened by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC).
- CITES: All sea otters are included in Appendix I of CITES.
- All of the sea otters in the U.S. are protected under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act.
- Learn more about the legal status and protection of sea otters >>
How You Can Help
- Help sea otters and other wildlife by adopting a sea otter today at our Wildlife Adoption Center.
- Take action to help save sea otters at SaveSeaOtters.org.
- Live in California? Learn about the California Sea Otter Tax Check-Off to make a contribution to the California Sea Otter Fund.
