Sea otter life isn’t always about splashing in the waves and lounging in the kelp. “These animals are so much like us,” said Teri Nicholson, a research biologist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Otters are carnivorous mammals in the Lutrinae branch of the diverse Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, stoats, wolverines, and ferrets, among others. There are 13 living otter ...

First responders rushed to West Cliff Drive around dusk Wednesday after receiving reports of a surfer in distress due to a ...