Endless Ocean

Sea Otters P9

People who hunted sea otters paddled their boats close to them and then killed them with guns or spears. Although native Alaskans had been hunting otters for years, it was not until foreigners began hunting them that their numbers declined.

When sea otters are alarmed or frightened, they hold their paws up in the air and hiss. If anyone comes too close, they dive under the water for safety.

Russians and other hunters took sea otter furs to traders. The traders then sold the furs to Asian and European markets. Furs were sold in London and other major cities to be made in coats, stoles, and other winter clothing. The coats may be warm, but I wouldn't recommend it because if they get wet you may drown and the coats are extremely hard to clean if you ever get them dirty.

Whenever people are boating too closely to sea otters, injuries can occur. Motorized jet skis are particularly dangerous for otters. Even though they have no propeller, jet skis can zip through kelp beds at top speeds----running over many sea otters and sometimes injuring them seriously. So please if you have any type of boat that might posess some type of danger to marine animals make sure you are way out of that animal's habitat.

Gill nets are used to catch fish, but sometimes sea otters and other marine mammals get tangled up in them too. Under California law, fishermen cannot put their gill nets in water that is less than 120 feet deep (37 meters). A new law may push that limit to 180 feet (55 meters), which would make it even safer for sea otters. 

Oil prevents air bubbles from staying in an otter;s fur. If rescued quickly, an oiled sea otter can be scrubbed with dish soap to clean its coat. Even if it is rescued, it can still get sick--especially if it swallowed any oil.

Off the coast of central California, a 100-mile-long sea otter refuge was established to protect otters from harm. Even outside of this refuge, sea otters are protected as a threatened species under national and ad state laws.

To increase their range and chance of survival, Alaskan sea otters have been moved to areas along the Pacific Northwest coast. Some of these relocated otters have begun new colonies.