Stay on top of what’s happening in the Bay Area with essential Bay Area news stories, sent to your inbox every weekday. The Bay Bay Area-raised host Ericka Cruz Guevarra brings you context and ...

Sea otters are famed for their luscious pelts, but the fur almost led to their extinction. By 1938, only a tiny population of ~50 remained clinging to the central California coast. Since then, the ...

Underwater surfaces can get grimy as they accumulate dirt, algae and bacteria, a process scientists call “fouling.” But furry mammals like beavers and otters that spend most of their lives wet manage ...

Q. You once said diamondback terrapins were your favorite turtle. What is your favorite mammal? A. Tough question, because all puppies and kittens, indeed most baby mammals, are engaging. But sea ...

By Christine Heinrichs The sea otter pup was tiny, probably less than 2 weeks old, alone in Morro Bay on an October morning earlier this year. A kayaker scooped it out of the water after listening to ...

The sea otter’s grooming regimen will be familiar to anyone with a cat. Like cats, sea otters spend considerable time licking and biting their fur to keep it clean and conditioned. Also like cats, ...

Q. You once said diamondback terrapins were your favorite turtle. What is your favorite mammal? A. Tough question, because all puppies and kittens, indeed most baby mammals, are engaging. But sea ...

Sea otter mamas are parenting on hard mode. They give birth in the water, to blind, helpless infants who have to be carried around on their bellies for weeks, nursing them while holding them on their ...