Sea otters are among the most vulnerable marine mammals to oil spills, as they rely entirely on their fur for insulation and cannot survive even small amounts of oil contamination without intensive intervention.
For sea otters, oil spill exposure is an agonizing emergency. The destruction of their fur's insulating properties causes hypothermia that develops rapidly. Otters trying to groom themselves ingest oil, causing kidney damage, anemia, and liver failure. The distress of an oiled otter - cold, sick, unable to function in water - is profound. Rehabilitation is extraordinarily intensive: otters must be kept in temperature-controlled facilities and cleaned with repeated dish soap baths over weeks. Despite heroic rehabilitation efforts, many oiled otters cannot be saved, and the suffering of those that survive rehabilitation before release is significant.