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Originally Posted by Big Papa Goat
This thread makes me happy.
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Sea Otter (
Enhydra lutris)
Sea otter pup.
Sea otters are smallest marine mammal. They can dive up to 180 feet, and use rocks, shells, or manmade objects to pry food from rocks. They eat various mollusks, starfish, crustatians, abolone, and urchins. They will usually use rocks to smash open shelled animals, and this distinguishes them as tool users. The loose skin under their forelegs serves a pouch to hold food that has been gathered under water. They must eat 20-25% of their body weight in seafood each day to maintain their body heat, because unlike most other sea mammals, they have no insulating layer of blubber. They also maintain warmth with their thick fur, which they will usually spend about half the day grooming to maintain its insulating properties.When sleeping, they lie floating in the water, having wrapped themselves in kelp to keep from floating away. A group of otters resting together in this fashion is called a "raft". When the otter sleeps during the day, it covers its eyes with its paws to block out the sun.
The male sea otter has been known to grab the pups away from their mothers, only releasing them when the female otter presents him with food. Male sea otters mate with females by biting their noses and mounting them from behind. Some females have been known to drown while the male mates with them, although this is rare.
The sea otter was once almost extinct due to years of hunting, but in 1911 protections were instituted and the sea otter has made a significant comeback.
Sadly, many otters were killed in the 1989 Exxon-Valdez oil spill. Sea otters are one of the most vunerable species when it comes to oil spills, as the oil ruins the insulating qualties of their fur and causes them to die of hypothermia.
Dead sea otter.
Rescued sea otter being groomed after being cleaned of oil.
Although the coast of Alaska seems to have recovered well from the spill, it will be a long time before it and the otter population have fully bounced back. Sea otters are considered a keystone species of the marine ecosystem, meaning that their presence or absence significant effects the ecosystem as a whole. Scientists believe that the sea otter contributes significantly to marine ecosystem of the sea, and protecting them is a high priority of environmentalists.
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