Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (MMPA), coastal Alaska Natives living along the North Pacific or Arctic Ocean are the only people who may harvest sea otters. When the act was passed, Congress recognized the cultural importance of marine mammals to Alaska Native peoples, and included an Alaska Native exemption for their take for subsistence or handicraft, provided that marine mammals are not taken in a wasteful manner.

Through body contact, nosing one another, head-jerking and vocalizations. Sea otters, in comparison to sea lions, for example, are not extremely vocal animals. However, adults use a soft, low cooing sound, and grunts to exhibit "contentedness," among other things. Pups use a high-pitch squeal to communicate with their mom. Some other sounds in the vocal repertoire of sea otters include whistles, whimpers, squeaks, whines, growls, snarls and hisses.

All sea otters in the United States are classified as "depleted" under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act. The California sea otter is also listed under state law as a "fully protected mammal."

Abalone, squid, snails and other molluscs; clams; mussels; crabs; lobster; urchins; sea stars; sea cucumbers; chitons; marine worms; and about 40 other marine invertebrates; and on occasion, marine birds; and in Alaska, certain fish.

Sea otters generally do not spend more than two or three minutes diving for food. They use their sensitive paws, whiskers and vision to make their way through the water to find food. Sea otters then return to the surface with their prey, lie on their backs, place the food on their chests and break open the prey using a tool of some kind (rock, bottle, etc.).

Sea otters are considered to be "opportunistic feeders" – that is, they feed on many prey items. They are carnivores, and, at times, omnivorous, meaning they feed on both animal and plant food. They are the top-end predator in the nearshore marine ecosystem.

Great white sharks are the primary predator in California. Ongoing studies in Alaska recently revealed that orcas (killer whales) are eating more and more sea otters in that region, possibly because the usual prey (seals and sea lions) are in decline. Other factors that may be influencing the orcas to eat more sea otters may include natural disturbances to the ecosystem that occur over space and time, as well as overfishing.

Sea otters have three basic ways to escape predators: fleeing; taking refuge in the kelp where they live; and coming up on land. They also have strong teeth they can use in interactions with other sea otters.

California sea otters average 4 feet in length and 50-60 pounds in weight. Northern sea otters are slightly larger.

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There are no U.S. Federal government restrictions on the taking of sea otters for coastal Alaska Native subsistence as long as such practices do not contribute to the demise of the species. However, any Alaska Native Tribal Government has the ability to develop regulations on when and where hunts may occur. It is important to check with the local Tribal government to see if any regulations exist.

Sea otters generally give birth to one pup a year. If they give birth to two, they will abandon one of them, as they can't care for two at a time. This is how pups are orphaned. Orphans rescued by trained wildlife rehabilitators can survive to adulthood and, in fact, all three otters at the Monterey Bay Aquarium were orphans. Otters are full-grown at about 3 years of age and generally they are weaned between 6 months and 1 year of age.

The southern sea otter is listed as "threatened." If the population decline continues, this listing could be changed to "endangered." The northern sea otter, which consists of sub-populations in Alaska, Canada and Washington, isn’t listed as a whole subspecies. The different sub-populations have different status classifications. Currently there is no federal or state Endangered Species Act listing for Alaska and Washington.

Sea otters are wild animals, which means their behavior towards humans can be unpredictable. Like people and other animals, they all have individual personalities. Some may be aggressive towards humans and other otters may be friendly. There have been occasional reports of sea otters messing around with divers (e.g., pulling at their dive caps and other things).

Sea otter forepaws are quite dexterous and sensitive, allowing sea otters to extract their prey from tight spots and to sense the prey they do handle. The pads of their paws are different from those of dogs -- sea otters have a continuous pad that covers the whole bottom part of the paw, while a dog’s paw is not fused.

No. The only sea otters that have been listed are found in SW Alaska. Sea otters in eastern Cook Inlet, Prince William Sound and Southeast are not affected by the listing. Populations in these areas are stable or increasing. In order for U.S. Federal government regulations to occur, it must be shown that subsistence harvest is a threat to the survival to the species and the affected stock must be declared depleted under the MMPA.

Scientists are still researching sea turtle longevity. Once sea turtles reach sexual maturity, they may have an estimated reproductive life of about 30 years. Given that some species reach maturity at 50 years, an 80-year lifespan is feasible.

Even the smallest sea turtles are larger than their land-going counterparts. Green turtles are 30-44 inches long and weight between 150 and 400 pounds. Kemp's and olive ridleys are the smallest sea turtles, with the largest averaging around 30 inches long and about 100 pounds. Leatherbacks are the largest sea turtles, reaching lengths of 4-6 feet and weights from 400 to over 1000 pounds. Sea turtles can live as long as eighty years, if not more.

I am trying to cover the whole of my route over the surface of the earth (because flying is too easy and you do not see anything on the way). This has meant I have had to hitch hike many times on yachts, ferries, canoes, cargo ships and freighters. (See my travelogue posts on Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia for more about this)

I live in southern Maine (USA), about 10 miles inland, from the Atlantic Ocean. I get a mix of coastal and inland storms, or as the meteorologist have started calling them ,"winter weather events". The Coastal storms have a tendency to include sleet and freezing rain and sometimes end as plain rain, making for a heavy snow pack. Other storms are of the inland variety and include deep snow with blowing and drifting. Our average winter snowfall is 71 inches.