Island writes about how otters play, socialize, hunt, survive, thrive and why we must care about them.

She stresses how science, policy, and community action can lead to measurable recovery.

Sea otters are ecological engineers whose predation on sea urchins helps maintain kelp forests.

Otters are fascinating intelligent, emotional, and sentient beings. I’ve had the pleasure of watching them romp around and hang out with their friends. Most people will never see them in the wild and in her insightful and scientifically rigorous new book Romp: A Journey Through the Natural History of Otters and Why They Matter filled with facts and heartwarming stories, otter expert Dr. Heide Island explains how they play, socialize, hunt, survive, and thrive.

It’s clear that Heide isn’t just a first-rate scientist and storyteller—she also deeply cares about otters, and so must we. May 27, 2026 is World Otter Day and I'm pleased she could take the time to answer a few questions about her beautifully written book as many others and I look forward to celebrating these amazing beings.

Marc Bekoff: Why did you write Romp?

Heide Island: I wanted to tell the Lutrine story, the subfamily that represents otters. From the snow sledding river otters of Yellowstone National Park, to the rock ‘juggling,’ Asian small-clawed otters who stash rocks in skin folds along their armpits. Some otters are thieves, like the surfboard-stealing sea otter in Santa Cruz, to the looting of Koi in small aquaculture. Otters are collaborative fishers like giant river otters, and they are also, like the hairy-nosed otter, lone water dogs.

Otters are entrenched in our cultures, from the Kóoshdaa Káa of some Pacific Northwest indigenous cultures to the Yōkai of Japanese folklore. They have been exploited, commodified, and extirpated for their furs, or more recently, as pets within the illegal pet trade. But they have also........

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