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| Sea otters | Facts about Sea otters |
They prefer to inhabit areas with kelp because they use the kelp as an anchor when they are resting. Unlike many other marine mammals, sea otters do not possess a layer of blubber to keep warm. Instead, they rely on their fast metabolism and thick fur. In order to keep up with their metabolism, sea otters may eat 30% of their body weight each day.
They feed on a variety of organisms, such as clams, crabs, sea urchins, and octopuses, by making short dives to the seafloor to snatch prey. Their webbed feet help them swim through the water. They use stones to break open the tough shells of their prey after they’ve come back to the surface. Since seaotters rarely venture on land,
Sea otters spend the majority of their time floating on their backs in the water
the spend the majority of their time floating on their backs in the water. There are social animals so they will often float together in large groups. They will even hold hands to keep from separating from each other. Females usually give birth to their first pup at 4 to 5 years of age. Pups only weigh about 4 lbs (1.8 kg) at birth.They stay with their mothers and nurse for the first six months of their life. Mothers groom their pups and carry them on their chest. They leave their pups wrapped up in kelp in order to hunt. Adult sea otters can grow to around 4 ft (1.2 m) long. And will typically live 10 to 20 years.Seaotters are listed as endangered species.
Their populations can be hard to recover from threats because of their slow reproductive rate. In the past, sea otters were hunted to near extinction. The sea otter fur trade began in the 1700s by Russian explorers. By the 1900s, there were only a few sea otters left. Luckily, a treaty was established in 1911 to protect seaotters.
Their populations began to recover and many more regulations have been put into place since then. Today, some of the biggest threats to seaotters are oil spills and predation by animals like killer whales and bald eagles.
Oil spills can be detrimental to sea otters because oil on their fur prevents them from staying warm.Seaotters are highly important in maintaining the health of kelp forests because they control the populations of sea urchins that prey on kelp, thus, allowing more kelp to grow.