Threats

Cause of death: Very old otters and pups may fall prey to a number of land predators, including wolves, birds of prey, and large reptiles. Surprisingly, one possible threat to the Alaskan sea otter population is predation by killer whales.  Very old otters and pups may fall prey to a number of land predators, including wolves, birds of prey, and large reptiles. Surprisingly, one possible threat to the Alaskan sea otter population is predation by killer whales.  Protozoal encephalitis, acanthocephalan-related disease, shark attack, and cardiac disease were identified as common causes of death in sea otters examined. 

Human effects: Of all the species to impact the sea otter, humans have likely done the most harm due to the species. For a variety of reasons in the past and present, humans have damaged the sea otter population. From hunting to oil spills to entanglement in fishing gear, there are a variety of ways in which the humans harm the sea otter population.