The sea otter is the largest member of the weasel family. Lacking a layer of fat to keep it warm in the cold Pacific waters, the sea otter has developed an exceptionally dense fur coat. When it was discovered by the early explorers to the Northwest Coast, the thick, dark, lustrous pelt became the most valuable fur in the world. In 1829, for example, a single sea otter pelt was valued at 10 times the value of a beaver pelt.
"Their fur is the finest in the world; it possesses a jetty blackness and is of exceeding beauty," declared an American fur trader.
Ruthless hunting almost exterminated sea otters before 1900. A few survived in Alaska and California. Protection has permitted them to increase and to reoccupy much of their former range along the coasts of British Columbia and California.
Learn more: The Maritime Fur Trade: From Sunday Rocks to Canton