Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Question: Every southern sea otter alive in California today descends from a single colony rediscovered in 1938 along the Big Sur coast, after the species was believed extinct from fur-trade hunting. Roughly how many otters made up that surviving colony?

Answer: About 50 to 90 otters. Researchers rediscovered the remnant population near Big Sur in 1938 after southern sea otters were long believed extinct from fur-trade hunting. The population later rebounded to roughly 3,000 animals, all descended from that small Central Coast population.