Anticipating sea otters, Clark thought he saw them in the Columbia, but they turned out to be seals. When the explorers reached the coast, however, they found plenty, and Lewis and Clark traded the Native Americans blue beads, a vest, and a knife, among other items, for the lustrous furs. This same lively fur trade would eventually eliminate the otter between Alaska and California. Reintroduction efforts brought otters back to the Washington coast, where they once again live in kelp forests and eat sea urchins.

Federally threatened.