Sea otters are keystone predators that maintain kelp forest ecosystems by controlling sea urchin populations, and their welfare is intertwined with the health of coastal marine communities from California to Alaska.
Sea otters must eat almost continuously to maintain body temperature, making any disruption to foraging — oil contamination, prey depletion, or entanglement — rapidly life-threatening. Oil-contaminated otters die from hypothermia within hours as their fur loses insulating function. Entangled otters drown when unable to surface. The ecological role of sea otters extends their welfare significance beyond individual animals: their presence maintains kelp forests that support thousands of other species. The recovery of sea otter populations represents a rare conservation success story with cascading benefits for coastal marine ecosystem health.