Quck answer
Sea otters are known for their playful and social behavior, making them the “party animals” of the sea. They can often be seen floating on their backs, holding hands with other otters to prevent drifting apart. They also use tools, such as rocks, to crack open shellfish for food. Unfortunately, sea otters are an endangered species due to hunting and habitat loss. Conservation efforts have helped to increase their populations, but continued support is needed to ensure their survival. Overall, sea otters are a beloved and vital part of the marine ecosystem.
Wild Animals
An Enhydra lutris, or sea otter, lounges in the sun along the coast in Morro Bay, California. Wikimedia Commons (CC By 2.0)
Sea otters are known for their lively and friendly personalities, making them the life of the party in the ocean. They are intelligent, talkative, curious, and sociable creatures. Not to mention, they are also one of the cutest adult animals on the planet, with their fluffy and smiling faces. Their babies are also in the running for the cutest baby animal. Sea otters play a crucial role in their ecosystem, being the glue that holds it together.
Thick Fur
Native to the North Pacific Ocean, from California to Alaska and Russia, sea otters belong to the weasel family. They spend most of their time in cold waters, using rocks to crack open shellfish on their bellies. Unlike seals and walruses, they do not have thick blubber to keep them warm, but instead, they have the densest fur in the animal kingdom. A single square inch (6.5 square cm) of a sea otter’s body has up to 100,000 hairs. However, their thick fur can be a liability in some cases.
Terri Williams, a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, explains, “Sea otters spend a lot of time grooming their unique fur to keep it clean because it cannot get dirty. The Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989 killed over 1,000 sea otters in Prince William Sound because their fur was contaminated with oil. Our team spent months cleaning them, but the bottom line is that oil and otters do not mix.”
Highly Coveted Fur
Humans have taken notice of the luxuriousness of sea otter fur, which needs to be kept clean and fluffy to maintain its insulating properties. Between the 18th and 19th centuries, the European fur trade caused a significant decline in sea otter populations throughout their range. By the early 1900s, only 50 California sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) along the southern coast of California remained in the wild. Thanks to the International Fur Seal Treaty of 1911, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the Endangered Species Act of the 1970s, California sea otters have made a partial comeback, with around 3,000 living on the California coast today.
According to Williams, “Sea otters in Monterey Bay, California, have reached carrying capacity, which means there is just enough food for the sea otters living there. For the population to grow, they would need to move to a new area. However, white sharks are believed to be keeping the otters from moving. In Alaska, killer whales have taken out large numbers of sea otters along the Aleutian Islands. The picture is brighter in the Cordova area, where sea otters seem to be thriving.”
Sea otters are crucial to the North Pacific seashore’s ecology, as they contribute to healthy kelp forests. Sea otters consume a quarter to a third of their body weight daily and spend up to 12 hours searching for food, which results in them sorting themselves into specialized eating groups based on their preferred depths for finding food. By doing so, sea otters can work the kelp forest at every level, making it more resilient and healthy. Scientists have successfully helped sea otters make a comeback in California by pairing orphaned otter babies with captive surrogate moms in the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Sea Otter Program. Researchers have shown that surrogate-reared otters and their offspring account for over half of the population growth in Elkhorn Slough, and the program has been successful since its inception in 1984. The ancient Zoroastrians believed that otters, also known as “sea dogs,” kept water clean and therefore forbade killing them.
FAQ
1. What are sea otters?
Sea otters are a marine mammal that lives along the coasts of the Pacific Ocean, from northern Japan to California. They are the smallest marine mammal and the only one that does not have any blubber to keep them warm. Instead, they rely on their thick fur to stay warm.
2. What do sea otters eat?
Sea otters are carnivores and primarily eat sea urchins, clams, mussels, and other shellfish. They use rocks to crack the shells of their prey and have been known to use tools to help them in their hunting, making them one of the few animals that use tools.
3. Where do sea otters live?
Sea otters live in coastal waters, kelp forests, and rocky shorelines. They prefer shallow waters where they can dive to the ocean floor to hunt for food.
4. How do sea otters socialize?
Sea otters are very social animals and often float together in groups called rafts. They hold hands while sleeping to prevent themselves from drifting away from the group. They also groom each other, which helps to keep their fur clean and helps to strengthen social bonds within the group.
5. Are sea otters endangered?
Yes, sea otters are considered endangered. They were hunted nearly to extinction for their fur in the 18th and 19th centuries. While hunting is no longer a threat, they are still at risk from oil spills, pollution, and habitat loss.
6. How do sea otters help their ecosystem?
Sea otters play an important role in their ecosystem by keeping the populations of sea urchins in check. Without sea otters, sea urchins could overpopulate and destroy kelp forests, which are important habitats for a variety of marine life. By keeping the sea urchin population in check, sea otters help to maintain a healthy and balanced ecosystem.
7. Can you swim with sea otters?
While it is not recommended to swim with wild sea otters, there are several aquariums and marine parks where you can observe and even interact with sea otters in a safe and controlled environment. However, it is important to remember that sea otters are wild animals and should be treated with respect and caution.
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