a rehabilitated sea otter is groomed at Sea World of California
Historically, the sea otter was found from the northern coast of Japan up through the Kurile Islands and the Commander Islands; across the Aleutian Islands; and down the coasts of Alaska, Canada, and the western United States to central Baja California.
In the mid-1700s Russian hunters began harvesting sea otters for their pelts. By the late 1700s the Russians were jointed by American and English fur traders. The 1800s saw large-scale otter harvesting and fur trading operations. Sea otters were nearly extinct by the turn of the century. Less than 2,000 otters remained. The International Fur Seal Treaty of 1911 stopped further exploitation of sea otters. Populations have gradually increased since then.
Presently, the sea otter lives in shallow waters off Alaska and Aleutian Islands, the Commander Islands, and along the California coast from Santa Cruz to Point Conception.
SeaWorld/Busch Gardens Animal Information Database
www.seaworld.org / www.buschgardens.org
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