10) Although sea otters hunt for food alone, they tend to rest and sleep in same-sex groups called rafts. What Thick Fur You Have . They use their sea whiskers to find small creatures to eat, and their paws to dig for clams. Its fur is the densest of any animal on Earth—an estimated 1 million hairs per square inch. Sea otters are commonly spotted on WWF’s Alaska tours. Last modified 28th April 2017, Your e-mail address will not be published. Sea otters mainly live in river basins. However, it is only once they were hunted nearly to extinction that we came to realize their value alive as a keystone species rather than a fur pelt. A raft typically contains 10 to 100 animals, with male rafts being larger than female ones. Nowadays, sea otters are beloved due to their appearance and charismatic personalities. This thick fur keeps the animals warm but unfortunately has led to over-hunting by … Facts about River Otters talk about an animal, which can be found on the coasts or waterways of North America. The following two tabs change content below. Sea otters communicate through body contact and vocalizations, although they are not overly vocal. 2. 7 FUN FACTS ABOUT OTTERS! Our significant Otters: 10 fascinating facts about the Sea Otter, Orcas on the Edge: A quest to film the critically endangered southern residents. It is known as the common otter or northern river otter. 9. The fur is responsible for insulating them and keeping them warm because they do not have a layer of blubber to keep them warm and protect them from the outside environment. Research has shown that sea otters are vital to the health of carbon-absorbing kelp forests. Sea otters are equally active both night and day. The majority of otters spend most of their time on land. Sea otters are good at floating on the water’s surface, as air trapped in their fur makes them more buoyant. River otters eat mostly frogs, crabs, crayfish, fish and mollusks. For rapid swimming and for diving, they swim similarly to other otters, using up-and-down undulations of the body. Most sea otters measure less than 50 inches. North American Sea Otter is also more slender than other otter breeds. Otters have as many as 2.6 million hairs per square inch. A group of sea otters is called a raft. Sea otters primarily rely on their sense of touch (whiskers and forepaws) in murky waters to locate prey. He also writes for Farsight Conservation. Fact2: Weighing between 30 and 100 pounds, the sea otter is the world’s smallest species of marine mammal. Sea otters are very social animals that can live in groups made up of hundreds of individuals. Of the 13 species, only the sea otter gives birth in water. The males of this subspecies weigh around 65 pounds while females are 45 pounds in weight. OTTERS HAVE VERY DISTINCTIVE POOP, AND THAT SCAT HAS ITS OWN NAME. Weight of otter depends on their breed. When resting or sleeping, sea otters float on their back and wrap themselves in kelp to keep from drifting. Sea otters are known for their remarkable ability to use rocks to smash open shellfish to fill their stomachs. Asher Collins is a student and author based in the UK. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Scientists Across The Globe Create A ‘Roadmap to Recovery’ to Reverse The Insect Apocalypse, Last Chance To Save Madagascar’s Unique Wildlife. We’ll be celebrating these amazing animals all fall with special sea otter programming at the Aquarium and a sea otter themed scavenger hunt! In Honor of Sea Otter Awareness Week, Ten Fun Facts about Sea Otters . Average life span in the wild is up to 12 years except for sea otter who can live up to 20 years. In adults, the head, throat, and chest are lighter in color than the rest of the body. People also call it North American river otter. 8. 9. OTTER FACTS FOR KIDS! The female sea otters are smaller as they grow up to 4.7 feet in length and weigh up to 73 pounds. Sea otters eat 25% of their body weight in food every day. Sea otters are just as full of interesting characteristics as they are full of cuteness! With a relatively large lung capacity for it’s size, a sea otter can hold its breath for 5 minutes, but most dives are two minutes or less in duration. Sea otters have built in pouches of loose skin under their forearms to stash extra prey when diving. They like to eat sea urchins, clams, mussels and crabs. Other Fun Facts. Save my name, e-mail, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 4. Sea otters don't just have the densest fur of all otters — they have the densest fur of all animals. Fun Facts about Sea Otter! Sea otters eat a wide range of marine animals, including mussels, clams, urchins, abalone, crabs, snails and about 40 other marine species, equaling approximately 25 percent of their weight in food each day, according to Defenders of Wildlife. 8. Wildlife Articles © 2019. Sea otters are from 1 to 1.5 meters (3.3 to 4.9 feet) in length and typically weigh between 14 and 45 kilograms (31 and 99 lb). Otters spend the majority of their time on land but many people assume that they spend it in the water. Following are a few other interesting facts you might not know about sea otters: 1) Sea otters are of the smallest marine mammals that are native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Sea otters use rocks to crack open shellfish and clams to eat. Their beautiful fur is a main target for many hunters. Your e-mail address will not be published. The others use it as a powerful weapon and to navigate their movements in the water. The coloration of the pelage is usually deep brown with silver-gray speckles, but it can range from yellowish or grayish brown to almost black. North American Sea Otters are larger than Asian otters. Funny! While Buzzfeed, (Apr 14) had found out that the number one reason that sea otters are dying is because of oil spills! With up to 150,000 strands of hair per square centimetre (nearly one million per square inch), its fur is the densest of any animal. The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) is rare, completely marine otter. He writes about conservation because he thinks vultures are underrated, pistol shrimps are actually quite interesting, and the world could do with a few more Kakapos. It is native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Their frequent appearance also means more … 3. No sea otters, no kelp forests. Sea Otters have the densest hair in the world, with up to 140,000 hair per square centimetre. Along the Pacific coast, sea otters help control the sea urchin population. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Here are five interesting facts about them: These beautiful animals are the smallest marine mammals in the world, measuring just 148 cm long. They are one of the few animals that use tools! Their beautiful fur is a main target for many hunters. This semiaquatic mammal has the weight of 11 to 30.9 lb or 5 to 14 kilograms. All Rights Reserved. The northern sea otters can weigh as much as 100 pounds. By. 3. 10 Facts About Otters You Should Know Instead Of Trying To Hook Them. Floating on its back, it opens mollusks and other shells by smashing them on a stone balanced on its chest; it is one of the few mammal species to use tools. In honour of the 12th annual Sea Otter Awareness Week September 21 through 27, we thought we would share some fun facts about these cute, curious creatures. This coat has two types of fur in it; underfur and guard hair. Singapore is hooked on cute otters Otters have become a common sight in garden city Singapore, with a family otters seen casually taking strolls at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, Toa Payoh, and even in St Andrew’s Junior College. They prey on sea urchins that feed on kelp. They live in offshore forests of giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera), and spend most of their active time foraging below the canopy. The size of the California (or southern) sea otters is about 4 feet. A raft typically contains 10 to 100 animals, with male rafts being larger than female ones. Male Otters are called boars, females are sows, and the offspring are pups. Sea otters are social, and tend to congregate in groups of gender, with pups and females in a group and males in another group. In the wild, sea otters live to a maximum age of 23 years, with average lifespans of 10–15 years for males and 15–20 years for females. Predators of this species include orcas, great white sharks and sea lions; bald eagles may grab pups from the surface of the water. For one of the smallest marine mammals on Earth (yet the largest member of the weasel family), the sea otter has racked up quite a few superlatives: 10. Sea otters are carnivores in the family Mustelidae—a group of animals that also includes terrestrial and semi-aquatic forms such as weasels, badgers, skunks, fishers, minks, and river otters. Sea otters have the thickest fur of any mammal. Otters are an essential keystone species. They're hungry animals! Although concentrated in June, some breeding occurs in all months; most births occur in summer. Most sea otters hunt and eat by themselves but then stay together in this group or raft when resting. At birth, the weight of a pup is 3 to 5 pounds. 90% of all sea otters live on the coast of Alaska. Fact1: Sea otters have incredibly fast metabolisms; a 60-pound adult sea otter eats at least 15 pounds of food (25% of its body weight) each and every day. Mothers have been observed to lick and fluff a newborn for hours; after grooming, the pup’s fur retains so much air, the pup floats like a cork and cannot dive. Cute! Sea otters generally forage close to shore in depths shallower than 18 meters (60 feet) but are capable of diving to depths of 90 meters (300 feet) or more. A “keystone species” is a species that is critical to how an ecosystem functions because it has large-scale effects on the communities in which it lives. They also eat small mammals and birds. On land, young sea otters may face attack from bears and coyotes. Sea otters can reach speeds of 1.5 km/h (0.9 mph) on the surface and 9 km/h (5.6 mph) while diving. The length of a sea otter is four feet in California whereas in north sea, the height is slightly more than this. Generally, the male sea otters grows from 3.11 to 4.11 feet in length and weighs around 49 to 99 pounds. Topics: Responsible Fishing. Neelgai Cull – Does India have any alternative to it? According to Buzzfeed, (Apr 14) the first sea otter was found in 1751. While river otters mostly live off fish, crayfish and crabs, sea otters have a more interesting method of sustaining themselves. In California, the weight of a female is 45 lbs and of a male otte… But the sea otter’s habitat is unique, as they only live in shallow coastal waters in the North Pacific ocean. Fact 2 Except for the sea otter, the majority of otters spend time mainly on land. Sea otters are the only marine mammal on the planet that has no blubber. Sea otters have the densest fur in the animal kingdom – with up to a million hairs per … Almost all otters have webbed feet, some more webbed than others, and they can close off their ears and nose as they swim underwater. A raft may have only ten sea otters but may also be a group of up to a thousand! Most marine mammals rely on a layer of blubber to keep them warm, but sea otters don’t have any. Females tend to stay away from males except when mating. Fact 1 Male otters are generally known as meowters. The sea otter is classified as an endangered species. Sea otters are quite awkward on land, and spend the majority of their lives in the water. In environments where sea otter populations … “Male sea otters typically grasp the female from behind and bite her face, and this rough behavior was associated with the deaths of about 11 percent of dead sea otters … They have very thick fur – near about 250,000 to one million hair per square inch. Sea otters are from 1 to 1.5 meters (3.3 to 4.9 feet) in length and typically weigh between 14 and 45 kilograms (31 and 99 lb). Zoroastrians would also hold ceremonies for otters found dead in the wild. Photo of the day: black and white puffins, Grass snake sighting – fantastic video of a snakelet, Photo of the day: Osprey a magnificent hunter. Different species of otters have different gestation periods: Typically, the smaller otters carry their young for two months, while bigger ones like the sea otters have a gestation period of five months. Photo source: Wikipedia. The sea otter can live its entire life without leaving the water. Here are five fun facts you otter know: Sea otters have the densest fur in the animal kingdom, with up to one million hairs per square inch of their body! Rahimah Rashith - 26 Oct 2015, 11:48 am. The sea otter is one of the smallest marine mammal species, but it is the heaviest member of the weasel family. Some are small river otters, and some are bigger sea otters. Learning Colors! Sea otters are the only fully aquatic form of otters, but they share features with the others such as thick fur and short ears. Here are 5 fun & easy to remember facts about sea otters. The females are called queens and the offspring are referred to as pups. Cuteness! The sea otter is one of the smallest marine mammal species, but it is the heaviest member of the weasel family. By: Brianna Elliott. Unlike most other marine mammals, the sea otter has no blubber and relies on its exceptionally thick fur to keep warm. Approximately 90% of the world’s sea otter population lives in coastal Alaska. Ten fun facts about Otters. 9. The rest do it in a den which are often created by other animals like beavers. Without blubber for insulation against the freezing waters they inhabit sea otters rely on incredibly dense fur to keep themselves warm. Today I want to write about one of the most fascinating animals in the world, the sea otter. That’s because, unlike its fellow marine … There’s no denying that sea otters rank right alongside baby sea turtles and tiny clownfish as some of the cutest ocean inhabitants. Share: Facebook Twitter Google Plus. Humans have about 300/cm² on their head. They usually weigh between 7 to 31 pounds (3 – 14 kg). Not only do they hold each other’s paws when resting but they may also wrap themselves in that kelp or seaweed to keep themselves safe. Sea otters eat clams, mollusks, crabs, snails, starfish, abalone, and many other marine animals (overall about 100 species) . 5 Sea otter is the heaviest and the second smallest aquatic member of weasel family. As predators that are near the top of the food chain, otters are hugely important for keeping their environments balanced. Sea otters can do well in captivity, and are featured in over 40 public aquariums and zoos. Rather fittingly, these groups of sea otters are called rafts. Sea otters eat sea urchins & other invertebrates that graze on giant kelp. 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