The sea otter is the most aquatic of the sea otters, spending almost all of its life at sea. Although seldom far from land, it is slow and awkward when it comes ashore. The sea inhabits the food rich waters of the north pacific. With its warm, insulating fur coat, it can swim and fish in the iciest of waters. The beauty of its pelt almost ed to the sea otters extermination by eighteenth and nineteenth century fur traders.
Habitat: The sea otter lives alone in coastal waters. The smallest of sea living mammals, it spends its entire life at sea only a half mile from the shore. During very rough storms, it may seek shelter in reefs or rocky coves. The sea otter stays in shallow coastal water to feed. On land, it walks slowly and awkwardly, lacking the agility and grace its displays in the water...
Breeding The sea otter's breeding season varies across its range, and offspring are born throughout the year. Mates pair up briefly during the mating season. After mating, males go to group resting grounds while females and young otters share territory.
The gestation period varies because the sea otter can delay an embryo's development to ensure that it is born at a favorable time. The female one pup or rarely, twins. She only has room to nurse and support a single pup on her chest while swimming on her back.
The young otter, born on a raised reef or in the open, quickly swims. It learns to dive at six weeks and begins to eat the same food as the adults otters. The young otters suckles until fully grown at six to eight months..
Food & Hunting:
This carnivore feeds on crabs, abalone (a mollusk), sea urchins, and fish. The sea otter eats up to a quarter of its body weight in food each day. Strong and swift swimmer, it propels itself with powerful strokes of its webbed hind feet and undulations of its body. It can dive and often feeds 65 feet below the surface.
While searching for food, the sea otter remains submerged for more than a minute. Before surfacing for air. Unlike the river otter that catches its prey in its jaws, the sea otter uses its small, clawed fore feet to seize prey, snatching up slow moving fish and plucking crustaceans and mollusks from seabed's or kelp stems.
Sea Otter & Man:
The sea otter has has of the most valuable coats of any mammal. Hunted intensively, fewer than 2,000 sea otters remained worldwide by 1910.
Protective legislation was introduced and sea otter numbers slowly increased to 100,000. Today pollution threatens many of the sea otter's remote habitats. In 1989 oil from the EXXON VALDEZ tanker killed entire sea otter colonies in Alaska. In some parts of its range, the otter must compete with fisherman for food..
Key Facts: Sizes,
Weight, breeding, lifestyle, related Species
Length:
Head and body 3 to 4 ft.
Tail length: 10 to 15 in.
Weight: 50 to 100 lbs, females 30 to 70
lbs
Breeding:
Sexual Maturity: Male, 6 to 9 years, Female
4 years.
Breeding season: Year round
Gestation: 6 to 8 months
No of young: 1. Twins rare
Lifestyle: Habit: Coastal, meat eating; pairs
only for breeding season.
Diet: Fish, crustaceans, and shellfish
Life span: Up to 20 years
Related Species: The other otter species
in the subfamily Lutrinae are the river otter, Lutra lutra, and the endangered
giant otter, pteronura brasilensis.
Distribution: Coastal and island waters
of the north Pacific from California to Alaska in the east and Japan to
the Soviet Union in the west.
Conservation: Hunted to the point of extinction
for its fur, the sea otter was given protection in 1911. Pollution
threatens the otter, with oil spills such as the EXXON VALDEZ disaster
wiping out populations and fouling its habitat.
Features of the Sea Otter:
Fur: Sleek thick and insulating. The sea otter has no fat insulation, so it relies on its fur warmth. If the hair becomes matted by oil the otter dies from the cold.
Feeding: The sea otter eats fish and shellfish off it chest. It uses its clawed forefeet to break open shells and it pass edible parts to its mouth.
River otter: Also swims well and has sleek fur Seizes prey in its mouth then eats on the river bank.
Hind Feet: Long and webbed to give the sea otter maximum propulsion when diving for prey..
Did you know:
A sea otter has been known to dive 318 feet.
On the surface, a sea otter swims up to one mile per hour, beneath the water it swims six times faster.
When sleeping the sea otter often covers its eyes with a paw.
The sea otter is the only sea mammal that has
no insulating layer of fat. Instead, it relies on its thick coat
to trap warm air that protects it from ice cold waters.
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