They often rest in coastal kelp forests, draping the kelp over their bodies to keep from drifting away. Sea otters are social animals, and while they feed alone, they sleep in groups. First, they netted some Alaskan sea otters. Worldwide, sea otters have slowly recovered but still stand far below their historical population numbers. They deposit their musky scent on their spraint. If you live in California, donate to the California Sea Otter Fund when you file your taxes. 12. This became necessary when researchers discovered that a protozoal parasite from flushed cat feces, Toxoplasma gondii, could pass through wastewater treatment facilities and harm sea otters. By maintaining healthy kelp forests, sea otters also indirectly help to reduce levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, a prevalent greenhouse gas, as kelp absorbs and sequesters carbon. If you removed all the sea otters in that area, the sea urchins would reproduce unchecked, as they have few natural predators that can get past their spines. Some otters dive deep and end up nabbing things like sea urchins and Dungeness crabs off the seafloor, while others find their favorite foods at mid-range depths of about 40 feet (12 meters), collecting small shellfish and worms. While sea otters are vulnerable to natural environmental changes, their populations are significantly impacted by several human factors as well. The water that sea otters live in is chilly, ranging from 35 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit—much too cold for humans. All the grooming causes the hair to hold air, making the baby float like a cork. Consider: The fur of the sea otter is denser than that of any other mammal, with some one million hairs per square inch (155,000 per sq cm). Sea otter diet. Ames and his colleagues spent a year from 1995 to 1996 deploying and tracking 33 tires and 33 real otter carcasses as they bobbed around the Pacific. Unlike other otters, having a soft undercoat, sea otters possess fur with thick hard hair. We supported a bill to phase out the use of drift gillnets in California waters to protect sea otters and many other marine species. They have a thick fur coat that acts as their primary insulation. More than 250 sick or dead sea otters have turned up on beaches in the Kachemak Bay region this year. Male sea otters live between ten and 15 years, while females live slightly longer, to 15-20 years. In fact, this fur is the most abundant among all animals on earth. Without sea otters, sea urchins can overpopulate the sea floor and devour the kelp forests that provide cover and food for many other marine animals. Sea otters must eat approximately 25% of their weight in food each day to support their high metabolism. The short, more dense, under layer of fur can have as many as 1 million hairs per square inch, which is the densest of any mammal. After eating, they wash themselves in the ocean, cleaning their coat with their teeth and paws. Otters occupy bays where the low tide zone is 2-2.5 meters, and trees and small shrubs create a shadow, stretching along the shore up to the water level. Sea otters eat frequently throughout the day. Sea otters live in shallow coastal waters in the northern Pacific. Male sea otters do gruesome things to baby seals–and female sea otters. Males may breed with more than one female during the year. As the sea otter thrust his pelvis, his penis was extruded and intromission was observed. Litter Size: Generally one pup, but sea otters can give birth to twins. Scent Markings. When the otter swims, its coat traps a layer of air close to its body. They have four legs to move easily on land, and a long tail to swim through the water. There are also small populations of sea otters in British Columbia, Washington, and California. Fish and Wildlife Service. Sea otters are what is known as a keystone species. It is highly illegal to own a sea otter. Still hungry, the otter dives below the surface again. Because the dam crosses the river, it is an ideal location for an otter … The animals often wrap themselves in kelp so they do not drift away in the ocean’s swirling currents. San Francisco Bay, they found, could potentially support 6,000 otters—more than double the population of sea otters currently ranging from California to British Columbia. Mother otter carry their babies on their tummy until they are 3 to 5 months old. How do sea otters hunt? Their fur is being hunted because sea otter has the most thick and densest coat fur. 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