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The sea otter population is thought to have once been 150,000 to 300,000, [24] stretching in an arc across the North Pacific from northern Japan to the central Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. The fur trade that began in the 1740s reduced the sea otter's numbers to an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 members in 13 colonies.
The sea otter was once abundant in a wide arc across the North Pacific ocean, from northern Japan to Alaska to Mexico. By 1911, hunting for the animal's luxurious fur had reduced the sea otter population to fewer than 2000 individuals in the most remote and inaccessible parts of its range. The IUCN lists the sea otter as an endangered species.
[26] A colony of translocated sea otters near San Nicholas Island is showing population growth after ten years of low numbers. In 1991, only 16 individuals remained out of the original 139 from only a year prior, however, the current population is around 100 otters which follows the trend of other successful sea otter translocations.
It is home to a growing, healthy population of southern sea otters, which were almost hunted into extinction by the early part of the 1900s. Today, ...
They were nearly hunted to extinction back in the 1700s and 1800s, and while the population has recovered, the number one threat to sea otters today are oil spills caused by humans.
Retrospective estimates of worldwide sea-otter numbers before the bulk exploitation of these mammals range from 150,000 to 300,000. [42] Sea otters are "slow breeders, only one sometimes two pups being born at a time" each year, which makes the population vulnerable in conditions of intensive hunting. [43] [44]
Rosa was adopted by the Monterey Bay Aquarium in 1999 and served as surrogate mother for a record 15 otters. She outlived the life expectancy for wild southern sea otters.
Population sizes are largely unknown, though two species, the sea mink and Japanese otter, were hunted to extinction in 1894 and 1979, respectively, and several other species are endangered. Some species have been domesticated, e.g. the ferret and some populations of the South American tayra .