Otters are known to hold hands in groups – called a raft – while they eat, sleep and rest, to prevent families from accidentally losing each other. Surprised? Well same here! This highly intuitive animal is also the largest member of the weasel family, known to wrap sea plants around their bodies to secure bond. Although it can walk on land, the sea otter lives mostly in the ocean.
Here are few life facts you should know about Sea Otters!
1. As you already know, Otters hold hands while eating and sleeping so they don’t lose each other
2. It is one of the few mammal species known to use tools to dislodge their prey. The sea otter uses rocks on its preys both to dislodge and to open shells. To open hard shells, it may pound its prey with about 45 blows in 15 seconds.
3. Although each adult and independent juvenile forages alone, sea otters tend to rest together in single-sex groups called rafts.
4. It is the only marine mammal that catches fish with its forepaws rather than with its teeth
5. It preys mostly on marine invertebrates such as sea urchins, various molluscs and crustaceans, and some species of fish.
6. Its diet includes prey species that are also valued by humans as food, leading to conflicts between sea otters and fisheries. In some areas, massive declines in shellfish harvests have been blamed on the sea otter, and intense public debate has taken place over how to manage the competition between sea otters and humans for seafood!
7. Sea otters spend much of their time grooming, which consists of cleaning the fur, untangling knots, rubbing the fur to squeeze out water and introduce air, removing loose fur and blowing air into the fur. To casual observers, it appears as if the animals are scratching, but they are not known to have lice or other parasites in the fur.
8. It is also the only marine animal capable of lifting and turning over rocks, which it often does with its front paws when searching for prey
9. Sea otters have the thickest fur of any mammal. Their beautiful fur is a main target for many hunters. Archaeological evidence indicates that for thousands of years, indigenous peoples have hunted sea otters for food and fur.
10. Sea otters are polygynous in nature- meaning that the males have multiple female partners.
11. Mating takes place in the water and can be rough, the male biting the female on the muzzle which often leaves scars on the nose – and sometimes holding her head under water.
12. Birth usually takes place in the water and typically produces a single ‘Pup’ (infant) weighing 1.4 to 2.3 kg. Twins occur in 2% of births; however, usually only one pup survives. At birth, the eyes are open, ten teeth are visible, and the pup has a thick coat of baby fur which their mothers lick and fluff for hours to groom to retain air.
13. Females perform all tasks of feeding and raising offspring, and have occasionally been observed caring for orphaned pups. Much has been written about the level of devotion of sea otter mothers for their pups – a mother gives her infant almost constant attention, cradling it on her chest away from the cold water and attentively grooming its fur.
14. Sea otter twin births are rare, and the high demands on the mother usually result in one pup being abandoned even to death.
The sea otter is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. The adult sea otter typically weighs between 14 and 45 kg, making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals. Many facets of the interaction between sea otters and the human economy are not as immediately felt. Sea otters have been credited with contributing to ‘kelp’ (Sea Weed) harvesting industry via their well-known role in controlling sea urchin populations; kelp is used in the production of diverse food and pharmaceutical products.
Although human divers harvest red sea urchins both for food and to protect the kelp, sea otters hunt more sea urchin species and are more consistently effective in controlling the populations. The health of the kelp forest ecosystem is significant in nurturing populations of fish, including commercially important fish species. In some areas, sea otters are popular tourist attractions, bringing visitors to local hotels, restaurants, and sea otter-watching expeditions.
