This ball of sea otter was discovered abandoned, and transfered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to Alaska's Sea life Center. Since she has been hand raised she can not survive in the wild. Fortunately the good people at Point Defiance Zoo in Washington State have given her a home.
I like to refer to them as sea kittens, for what I hope are obvious reasons:
More excellent videos on Sea Otters:
Then of course otters holding hands
An awesome link to a flicker account dedicated entirely to sea otter photos!
Why should anyone care about Sea Otters. They are endangered:
This species is considered to be Endangered due to a population decline in the past, and which is ongoing. In the three generations (30 years) since the massive population declines in the past (>70%) the species has been recovering in many areas thanks to intensive management and regulatory efforts by several governments, however it continues to decline over much of its current range. Studies from Alaska and California show a decrease in the number of Sea Otters (of up to 70% in western Alaska) because of predation by Killer Whales (3-4% per year in California) (Dorof 2007, Dorof et al. 2003, Estes 2000, Lance et al. 2004). The populations along the Alaska Peninsula (~157 degrees) and extending to Attu Island (~172 degrees) have declined from about 50% to >90%. Along the Aleutian chain of Islands the population decline was >96%. In addition, recent studies have found infectious disease to be an important mortality factor in California sea otter populations (Dorof 2007, Lance et al. 2004). Around 280 Sea Otters found dead have been linked “to a pair of protozoan parasites, Toxoplasma gondii and Sacrocystis neurona, that are known to breed in cats and opossums" (Lanceet al. 2004). Wisconsin examined 195 sea otter carcasses collected in California and found infectious diseases (acanthocephalan peritonitis, protozoal encephalitis, bacterial and fungal infections) caused mortality in 38.5% of those examined (Thomas and Cole 1996). The situation in the Russian Federation is clearer now. The sea otter number on the Commander Islands reached maximum since last 150 years period (Burdin, Zagrebelny, 2006). In 2007, the direct count revealed around 8,000 otters in both Bering and Medny Islands. The Commanders Island population of sea otter was never so abundant, but in 2008, it was found that the population was on decline. In 2004 the Kuril Islands population of sea otter was estimated around 19,000 (Kornev and Korneva, 2004), but later count have shown sever decline (up to 40-50% in different locations). Though the causes of such decline are not very clear, the threat due to poaching can’t be ruled out.
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If you have the chance take a look at the flickr account of the otters, particularly if you have kids. Some of the photos are just stupendous.