Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Sea Otter


We just learned about the Asian Small-Clawed Otter.

Another animal in the same family is the Sea Otter, also called Enhydra lutris.

Just like you would think from their name, these otters spend most of their lives living in the sea.
They are able to go walk on land, but they are so good in the water they can just live there without ever going on land, even for sleeping!

Sea Otters live in the cold waters of the northern Pacific Ocean.
They are about 1 meter long, weigh about 30 kilograms, and are the heaviest of any of the animals in the weasel family.
They eat a lot of things like clams that they need to break open, so they have learned to take rocks and smash them on the shells to break them.

Most of the animals that spend time in the cold ocean waters have thick fat called blubber in their body, but these animals just have the thickest fur of any animal in the world, and that helps keep them warm.
Sea Otters can close up their noses and ears to keep water from getting in while they are swimming around.
Even when they are not swimming they can float, and sometimes they will snuggle up together with bunches of other otters and that is called a "raft" of otters!
They can hold their breath for five minutes, and sometimes to keep from floating away they will wrap themselves in kelp.



(from: wikipedia - sea otter)


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