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Southern Sea Otters
We wouldn't be very Wild About Otters if we didn't include the story of the southern sea otters found here in California. Though live sea otters aren't part of the special exhibition, they're always on view in our permanent exhibit, "Sea Otters Along the Rocky Coast." It's home to several female otters that can't be returned to the wild. You can watch their antics, and learn more about them during daily feeding and training sessions at the aquarium or through our live web cams.
In Wild About Otters, we'll share stories about the wild sea otters living just offshore. You can spot them using binoculars at the exhibit, and you'll learn about our involvement in field research to help speed the recovery of this threatened species. Video clips and touchable bronze models enrich the experience. Nearby you can explore the similarities—and differences—between freshwater otters and their sea otter cousins.
Otters live all over the world
You'll find southern sea otters on the Central Coast of California from San Francisco to Santa Barbara.
You'll find freshwater otters worldwide except in the Arctic, Australia and desert regions of Africa.
Who's bigger?
Sea otters are bigger than freshwater otters. They weigh 40 to 70 pounds and grow to four feet long.
Most freshwater otters are smaller than sea otters. They weigh 10 to 30 pounds and grow two to four feet long.
Feel their fur!
Sea otter fur is extremely dense—it has up to a million hairs per square inch to insulate the otters in chilly ocean waters. Freshwater otter fur is much less dense than sea otter fur.
The fur of freshwater otters doesn't insulate as well, but they spend less time in the water than sea otters do.
By land or by sea?
Sea otters are marine mammals. They spend their whole lives at sea and rarely haul out on land.
Freshwater otters are aquatic mammals that have adapted to life on land and in lakes, rivers and streams.
Check out their paws
Sea otters' hind paws are paddle shaped and webbed to the tips of their toes.
Freshwater otters' hind paws are rounded and sometimes webbed.
Where does mom have her pups?
Sea otter pups are born in the water and bob at the surface like corks. They can float but they can't swim.
Freshwater otter pups are born in burrows called holts, where they live for months with their mom.
Listen: Otter Pup
Sea otter pups cry when they are hungry or if they are separated from their mother.
Watch: Surrogate Otters
Watch our exhibit sea otters care for rescued pups as part of our Sea Otter Research and Conservation program.
Though they're coming back from near-extinction at the hands of fur hunters in the 18th and 19th centuries, sea otters still face serious threats from catastrophic oil spills, coastal pollution and disease. Aquarium researchers partner with state, federal and university scientists to learn more about the threats to sea otter recovery.
Recent legislation passed in California expands sea otter research, increases the fine for killing or harming sea otters, and requires a warning label on kitty litter alerting consumers to the danger of flushing cat feces down the toilet. Cat litter is one source of Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that survives sewage treatment and ends up in the ocean where it can kill sea otters.
We wouldn't be very Wild About Otters if we didn't include the story of the 
