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 ...

For 40 years, scientists have been monitoring the Neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis) along the southern coast of Brazil.

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 ...

New modeling method helped researchers understand why kelp forests returned more slowly in Southern California than in British Columbia. When sea otters were reintroduced along the coastlines of ...

Did you know sea otters can eat a quarter of their body weight in food every day? That’s hundreds of sea urchins, clams, and crabs — all cracked open with a rock balanced on their bellies. It’s one of ...

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 ...