Enhydra lutris

Pelage thick, mainly reddish, dark brown, or black, with the head whitish in older individuals, especially males; tail thick (to about 35 cm), about 1/4 of body length; hind feet flattened and webbed, outer toe longest, with vestigial leathery foot pads; front feet relatively small and round; ear pinnae small; to about 1.5 m in total length; adult males usually 25-40 kg, females usually 15-25 kg.

Differs from pinnipeds in longer tail and much smaller forelimbs that are not flipperlike. Differs from the river otter in shorter tail and flipperlike hind feet. This is the only carnivore with 2 pairs of lower incisors (all others have 3 pairs).

Coastal waters usually within 2 km of shore, especially shallows with kelp beds and abundant shellfish. In rough weather, takes refuge among kelp, or in coves and inlets. Often comes ashore in Alaska, rarely does so in California. In California, juvenile males spend little time in near-shore kelp beds; often remain far offshore (Siniff and Ralls (1988). In California, young are born in the water or on land; births may usually occur ashore in Alaska.

Keystone predator; often limits prey populations; predation on herbivores determines structure of off-shore kelp communities (e.g., Estes et al. 1989).

Males defend contiguous territories from which they exclude other males (Riedman and Estes 1990).

Males may move up to 30-60 miles along coast, females generally stay within area 5-10 miles long. Daily movements generally encompass a few kilometers (Riedman and Estes 1990). Ralls et al. (1996) found that otters in California usually were within 1-2 km of their location on the previous day but often stayed in one place for an extended period then suddenly moved a much greater distance; the area used by individual otters during a single 24-hour period was 7-1166 ha.

Undisturbed populations can increase at about 17-20%/year, although the central California population never has increased at more than 5-7%/year (Riedman and Estes 1990).

Strongly polygynous. Reproduction is weakly seasonal. Births in spring and summer with peak in early summer in Alaska (late May in Prince William Sound); peak December-March (generally late winter) in California. Implantation delayed, gestation about 8-9 months in Alaska, about 4-6 months in California. Young dependent on mother for about 6-7 months in California, 76-333 days (average 170) in Prince William Sound, Alaska. In California, adult females generally give birth to 1 pup every year; females in some areas of Alaska give birth every other year. In California, females sexually mature usually in 3-5 years. In Alaska, 30% of females were sexually mature at age 2, 100% by age 5; annual reproductive rates increased from 22% at age 2 to 78% at age 5 and remained relatively stable (75-88%) through age 15 (Bodkin et al. 1993). Commonly lives 10-15 years; maximum known ages are 23 years for females and 18 years for males.