A top favourite, the sea otter is the international ambassador species for otters, being the first to have been nearly hunted to extinction and saved in the nick of time.

Unlike other marine mammals, they have no blubber to protect them from hypothermia. Instead, they have the thickest, densest fur of all mammals: 500,000 hairs per square centimetre! It was this feature that made its fur so desirable and nearly caused this otters’ demise.

Although sea otters have made a remarkable recovery in Alaska and the Northeast Pacific, they are still in danger from predators like orcas, poachers, and water-borne toxins that are increasing due to warmer water temperatures.

Sea otters are social and live in single sex groups, unlike other otter species. They rarely come ashore but float instead, diving for clams, crabs, and urchins.