We Want To Protect Them

Because they’re fragile and necessary for the ecosystem, the U.S. and international law have reinforced laws protecting sea otters. Otters were “hunted to the edge of extinction by fur traders in the 18th and 19th centuries, the few remaining sea otters (about 2,000 scattered in remnant colonies throughout the North Pacific rim) were first protected by the International Fur Seal Treaty in 1911. Sea otters in the United States received additional protections with the passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act in the 1970s” (DOI). Reading this eases our anxiety. It looks like most humans are doing everything they can to help these little critters survive.