Natural History

Where do Sea Otters live?
   Sea Otters once lived along the coastline of the Northern Pacific, from Japan to Baja California. The population numbered between 150,000 to 300,000.  Now the sea otters live along the California Coastline.

Do they ever come ashore?
   Sometimes, but they spend most of their lives in the ocean. They do everything in the ocean.  Alaskan Sea Otters are known to spend much more time on shore.  Southern Sea Otters almost never come ashore.

Do sea otters live alone or in groups?
   Sea otters live in casual groups called rafts. Rafts consist of two or more resting otters.

How many kinds of sea otters are there?
   There are three kinds of sea otters: the Russian sea otter, the Alaskan Sea Otter, and the California Sea Otter. All of them look a little different from each other. The sea otter is one of nine species of otters found in the world. Besides sea otters the marine otter is the only other otter to live in the ocean.

The California Sea Otter

How many are there now?
   About 2,000 sea otters live along the California coastline.

How well can sea otters see, hear, and touch?
   The sea otters have weird eyes because they can see above water and below water. They also can touch and hear very well.

How much do they eat?
   Without blubber, otters lose a lot of heat. So they have to eat up to 25% of their body weight per day. A 50 pound wild otter has to eat about 13 pounds of food a day, just to stay alive.