Aww! Sea Otter Pup Takes A Precious Nap While Floating On His Mother's Chest

Sea otters are scrappy little creatures built to find food in cold, unpredictable waters. They're also natural cuddlers. Pups spend most of their time curled up on their moms' broad chests as they float. A Facebook clip, captured by director and Emmy Award-Winning cinematographer Maxwel Hohn, showed an especially adorable mother-pup cuddle session that melted hearts. One person admitted, "The cuteness is just too much for me to handle right now," while someone else added, "That's so beautiful!"

All baby animals charm with their good looks, but sea otter pups are something special. They're essentially born as giant fluffballs, with fur so thick and buoyant that they can't dive. They're helpless on their own, so Mom's devotion provides food, protection, and an introduction to the otter way of life. When Mom needs to hunt, she hides her pup in long tangles of kelp so it won't drift away. She'll take care of the pup until it's ready to fend for itself. 

America's western shores once teemed with sea otters hunting for invertebrates and the occasional fish. However, the otters' glossy, dense coats drew hunters who decimated their numbers. By 1911, sea otters were nearly extinct, prompting the International Fur Seal Treaty to help reverse the damage. The comeback wasn't quick, however. The sea otter population near Washington state disappeared entirely from 1911 until 1969, when a few dozen were relocated to the area.

The sea otter resurgence in the Pacific Ocean affects the coastal ecosystem. Otters are voracious eaters, focusing on small, kelp-eating creatures like crabs. When otters vanish, much of the kelp does too. Sea urchins, for instance, will devour a kelp forest if their numbers aren't controlled by otter predation. Many small animals live among the kelp, and their lives are endangered when it's removed. Restoring sea otters to the ocean brings balance.

Sea otters aren't the only species to survive a brush with man-made destruction. Check out these animals that have bounced back after an extinction scare.