So how are we going to save these adorable little guys?

Now, you may ask, how exactly are these sea otters being helped so that they do not remain threatened? Well, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife agency and the Southern Sea Otter protection plan created under the Endangered Species Act, the population of these cute mammals would have to be greater than 3,090 for three years in a row in order to be delisted. This would ensure that the otters have successfully recovered their population size to be the keystone species their ecosystem needs them to be! Yet this is actually far from what their population size should be. According to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the otters population size "should not be permitted to diminish beyond the point at which they cease to be a significant functioning element in the ecosystem of which they are a part." And believe it or not, this would mean that the sea otter population would have to be greater than 8,400 just in California.

Now, this is no easy feat. There are many items that need to be slowly checked off in order for this to happen. First, sea otters have to expand their range and not be limited to certain regions. To do this, however, their ecosystems need to be restored. This will only occur by identifying and decreasing limiting factors that HUMANS cause. These include managing activities related to petroleum and oil to reduce the likelihood of a spill along the California coast. Equally, it also involves minimizing contaminant loading and infectious disease; and managing the bycatch of otters through commercial fishing.