Endangered species. Migrating otters push law to the limit.

Fourteen years ago, Congress declared the Southern California coast an otter-free zone--but the unwitting creatures aren't cooperating. That's no surprise to federal biologists, who this summer issued a report concluding that the otter-free zone harms the already-endangered population. Federal officials are now trying to come up with a better plan, but it's likely to draw from politics as well as science.