HABITAT: Sea otters inhabit coastal waters, usually less than half a mile from shore. Their typical haunts include precipitous rocky shores, barrier reefs, tidewater stones, and dense kelp forests.

and U.S. Endangered Species Act protection — have helped sea otters rebound. But local populations are still fluctuating, with many declining. Today the species occupies just a tiny fraction of its ...

By the end of the 19th century, traders had extirpated otters from nearly their entire Pacific Rim range — including southeast Alaska. “Given a little bit of protection, they recover from whatever we ...

Southern sea otters occupied only about 13 percent of their historical range two years ago. “The dynamic nature of ecosystems has long kept ecologists from understanding what species need and ...

HAMANAKA, Hokkaido--Sea otters have pupped off Cape Tofutsu here in eastern Hokkaido. Four pairs of mothers and pups have been spotted since the beginning of July, in a community of up to 14 otters.