Sea otters are a critically important keystone species whose welfare is threatened by oil spills, entanglement, and disease. Their high metabolic demands make them especially vulnerable.
Sea otter welfare is intertwined with ecosystem health in ways that are rarely fully acknowledged. Their high caloric needs mean that food stress — from prey depletion, oil contamination of feeding grounds, or injury that limits foraging — causes rapid welfare decline. Oil spill response for sea otters is an intensive welfare challenge: the cleaning process itself is stressful, but the alternative is death by hypothermia. Protecting sea otter welfare means protecting the clean coastal ecosystems they depend on.