Sea otters are one of nature’s most fascinating creatures, beloved for their playful personalities and critical role in marine ecosystems. From their dense fur to their impressive tool use, these ...

Sea otters are North America’s smallest marine mammal, weighing just 30 to 100 pounds, but their appetites are huge. They burn calories at three times the rate expected for their size, chomping on ...

Adorably fuzzy sea otters aren’t just cute. The marine mammals serve a crucial role, helping to restore the giant kelp forests they rely on by removing their top predators, the sea urchins. When ...

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On a remote Alaskan island, gray wolves are rewriting the rulebook by hunting sea otters — a behavior few scientists ever expected to see. Researchers are now uncovering how these coastal wolves ...

Southern sea otters living along California’s coast are struggling in warmer seas, with new threats and changing food sources. They, like the other two sea otter subspecies, are classified as ...

When sea otters were reintroduced along the coastlines of islands in Southern California and British Columbia, researchers saw kelp forests return to areas that were destroyed by sea urchins. But how ...

From kelp forests to sea grass meadows, these charismatic predators are quietly holding parts of the coast together.

Their fur is so soft it almost led to their extinction, but otters’ recovery has been a boon to Pacific kelp forests, a key habitat for other sealife Sea otters use their agile, grippy forepaws to ...