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Introduction
Sea otters are very important kelp forest inhabitants. They have adapted in many interesting ways to life at sea. For instance, otters have one million hairs per square inch. ... Sea otters even have baggy skin in their armpits that they use to store food.
Otters are very important to the kelp forest, and without them, many of our kelp forests would be gone because they prey on sea urchins and other kelp grazers. ... Sea otters are in the Animalia kingdom, the Chordata phylum, the Mammalia class, the Carnivora order, the Mustelidae family, the Enhydra genus and Lutris species. There are three subspecies of sea otters, the Asian sea otter (Enhyddra Lutris Lutris), the Alaskan sea otter (Enhydra Lutris Kenyoni), and the Southern California Sea Otter (Enhydra Lutris Nereis). ...
Physical Characteristics and Longevity
Female otters weigh 35 to 60 pounds, and males weigh up to 90 pounds. Otters are about 3-5 feet in length. Male otters usually live about 12 ½ years, while females outlive them, at 17 ½ years. Otters have flipper-like flattened web hind feet for swimming and front paws with retractable claws similar to a cat’s. ...
Otters have a diamond shaped nose with two nostrils at the bottom, which close during diving. ...
Otters usually have a light colored head, white to straw colored, a dark brown body and a light brown belly. ... Otters have no blubber to insulate them, but their dense fur makes it so they never really get wet, and it provides four times the insulation that blubber does. ... During the summer, otters shed their underfur. Otters secrete oil to repel water. ...
Otters must keep their body salt consistent, despite the salt water around them. Otters also eat very salty foods. ... Otters cope by having extremely large kidneys that filter out salt.
Behavior
On average, otters spend 8 hours foraging and feeing, five hours grooming, and about eleven hours resting or sleeping. Otters are usually solitary animals, although males sleep together in groups called rafts. Rafts usually consist of 20 to 100 otters; although they can be can be larger. ...
Otters are the slowest swimming marine mammals. ...
Otters rest periodically during the day, and sleep during the night. During daytime naps, otters will often place their paws over their eyes to block out the sun. Otters sleep on their backs in the water with their head up, their feet in the air, and their paws folded on their chest or in the air, so they don’t freeze in the water. ... This is why otters spend so much time grooming themselves. When otters groom themselves, they roll and somersault in the water.
Otters communicate with each other. ...
Feeding Habits
The sea otter is a carnivore, eating only meat unless forced to do otherwise. Otters are certainly not picky eaters. ... Some of their favorites are sea urchin, squid, octopus, crab, abalone, scallop, snail, barnacle, and sea stars. ...
Otters are incredibly smart when it comes to foraging. ... Otters usually dive sixty feet, although they are capable of diving 330 feet, and can hold their breath for five minutes.
Approximate Word count = 2539
Approximate Pages = 10.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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