News

For the North American river otter, fish, crayfish, frogs and turtles are on the menu, Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute reports.Meanwhile, sea otters may snack on ...
Sea otter populations are rebounding in the eastern North Pacific. There, they devour huge quantities of shellfish and other marine critters that people like to eat, too. But any commercial losses ...
Once numbering between 150,000 and 300,000, California’s southern sea otter population dropped to 50 at its lowest. Now, there are 3,000 thanks to conservation efforts, but their status is still ...
On the Central Coast, red sea urchins are much less common than the smaller purple sea urchins. The San Nicolas otters also eat marine snails and crabs, but there is little difference between the ...
A southern sea otter grooms while her pup nurses in Moss Landing. Female sea otters expend enormous amounts of energy on pup-rearing. (Photo by Lilian Carswell/USFWS) A southern sea otter enjoys an ...
It’s Sea Otter Awareness Week, which means it’s a great time to learn about everyone’s favorite aquatic fluffball! And the first thing you “otter” know about sea otters is that they are ...
A sea otter surfaced with a large shark in its grasp recently, to the astonishment of onlookers. But what happened next is not clear. The accompanying images, captured last Tuesday by Don ...
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KRON) — A wild sea otter that became famous over the summer for hopping on surfers’ longboards is now a proud new mother. Local photographer Mark Woodward captured ...
Sea otters ate multiple crab species, allowing snails, which crabs eat, to thrive. The snails then ate more algae that had blocked sunlight from reaching the sea grass.
The zoo will celebrate Sea Otter Awareness Week Sept. 22-28 with a full slate of otter-themed games and conversations spotlighting some of the ocean’s most charismatic creatures. Volunteers and ...