Their numbers plummeted. In the 20th century, California sea otters — also called southern sea otters — had almost disappeared and were believed extinct until a small group (or “raft”) of them ...

researchers have been able to document the impacts of sea otters on the ocean environment as their populations recover and move north (in what the researchers call "rafts of foraging otters").

"Sea otters," says marine biologist Jim Bodkin ... Alaska Expedition Retraced could well see otter groups, called "rafts," resting on the surface in protected bays or inlets along the Alaskan ...