About

The Southern Sea Otter, also known by its scientific name, Enhydra lutris nereis, can be found along the California coast from Half Moon Bay near San Francisco to Coal Oil Point near Santa Barbara. These adorable creatures live in kelp forests in water as cold as 35˚ to 60˚ F! They can do this because they are like little swimming furnaces, as they can eat 25 to 30 percent of their body weights each day to fuel their high levels of activity. Sea otters are mammals, so they nurse their young and are warm-blooded. They hunt, mate, groom, give birth, play, rest, and sleep entirely at sea. They also lounge at the water’s surface and on kelp beds to relax and catch some rays! Additionally, as members of the Mustelidea family, sea otters are related to river otters, skunks, and weasels. However, what is especially interesting about sea otters is that they are considered a keystone species, which means that the presence or absence of the sea otter has a big impact on the health and balance of its entire ecosystem. Lets just say that without the sea otter, we would have urchin infested waters with no kelp forests, as urchins eat kelp, and otters eat urchins, directly controlling their population. Now you may ask, why should we care about kelp forests? Well, kelp forests shelter a large variety of fish that are a main source of food for seals and sea lions. So allowing the southern sea otter to become extinct would cause the decline of other cute marine animals as well.