Sea otters recovered from near-extinction but face ongoing welfare challenges from oil spills, fishery conflict, and white shark predation. Conservation programs protect both populations and individuals.
Sea otter welfare is intertwined with ecosystem health at multiple scales. As a keystone species, sea otter population health directly affects kelp forest welfare — their decline allows urchin barrens to replace productive kelp habitat, affecting entire communities of marine species. Individual sea otter welfare is compromised by oil spills (hypothermia from fur damage), fishery gear entanglement (drowning and injury), and pollution-related disease. The Monterey Bay Aquarium sea otter program demonstrates how individual welfare can be addressed through rescue and rehabilitation while contributing to population recovery. Surrogate-reared pups released to the wild have established new territories and expanded the southern sea otter range.