Sea Otters in California
Sea ottersSea otters are the largest species in the carnivore family Mustelidae. Unlike most marine mammals, they do not have a thick layer of fat, or blubber, to keep them warm in their cold ocean environment. Instead, they rely on air trapped in their dense fur, which contains as many as 100,000 hair follicles per square centimeter, for insulation.
Due to this amazing fur, sea otters were hunted to near extinction in the 19th century. When hunting was prohibited by an international treaty in 1911, only a dozen or so small colonies remained.
Southern sea otters are descended from one such colony along the Big Sur coastline in central California. This population is listed as threatened on the U.S. Endangered Species List because of its small size and its vulnerability to oil spills. The California population currently consists of over 2000 individuals.
For unknown reasons, it has never grown at more than 5% per year, although other sea otter populations to the north have grown at rates of 17 to 20 % per year.
