Sea otters are the largest member of the weasel family and the smallest marine mammal. Ninety percent of the world’s sea otters live in coastal Alaska.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act protects sea otters. It prohibits commercial harvest of sea otters, and allows Alaska natives to hunt sea otters for subsistence and creation of handicrafts.

Historically, sea otter populations made a dramatic comeback after near extinction due to overhunting, and later survived the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

The population there has been listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. See the southwest Alaska sea otter recovery team page for more details.