Elkhorn Slough Otter Trio

It is easy to take a scene like this for granted, but California's southern sea otter came very close to vanishing entirely. Hunted for its fur down to perhaps 50 survivors, the species was thought extinct in the state until a small group was rediscovered near Big Sur in 1938. Today the population has climbed back to only about 3,000 animals and is still officially listed as threatened, recovering rather than recovered. Elkhorn Slough, near Monterey Bay, has become both a premier place to watch them and a documented conservation success, including as a release site for orphaned pups raised by surrogate mothers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.