Sea Otter
Color: The sea otter's body is brown, with a light tan head, cheeks, and throat, and an even lighter belly.
Nose: Aspen leaf shaped. Females have a pink scar on their noses after mating.
Feet: Sea otters have strong, but very small, forepaws. The rear paws are so elongated and webbed that they are like flippers. The claws are semi-retractable.
Hair: Very thick, silky, and sleek. The guardhairs are 1.3 to 1.4 inches long, and the underhairs are about 0.7 inches long.
Track/Sign: N/A
Food: Clams, mussels sea urchins, crabs, octopi, abalone. They do not tend to eat fish, though they certainly will if the opportunity arises (sea otters aren't the fastest critters ever).
Conservation Status: Endangered
Sea Otters are found primarily on the Pacific coast of North America. Some are also found on the coast of Russia and Japan. They live in and near kelp beds, which they rely on for both food and shelter. Most of their prey organisms feed on kelp or on other organisms that feed on kelp, and the kelp forests are a challenging habitat for large predators like Orcas. Sea Otters also use kelp beds literally as "beds". One of the unique challenges of living in the ocean is that it's always moving. To avoid drifting away from each other and their habitat, they often wrap themselves in kelp, which is sturdily anchored to the sea floor, before taking a nap.
Oil pollution is one of the primary threats to Sea Otters. Sea Otters are very sensitive to pollution. As well as being toxic if ingested, oil makes it impossible for them to keep their fur clean. Air bubbles trapped in their fur keep the otters from ever actually getting wet, allowing them to stay warm without the thick blubber layer that most marine mammals require. The oil forces the air bubbles out of the otters' fur and mats the fur to their bodies, eventually causing oiled otters to die of hypothermia. Fishing nets and the spread of infectious disease are also major threats to Sea Otters.
Sea Otters are also among the increasing number of animals known to use tools. They primarily eat shellfish, which are notoriously difficult to get into. Sea Otters get around this problem by taking a rock from the sea floor (some otters even have a favorite rock that they keep track of!) and using it to open the shellfish. An otter will place a rock on its stomach, and bash a clam or other shellfish on the rock until the shell is broken enough that they can eat the clam out of it. Otters also use rocks to bash abalone off of surfaces they are attached to on the sea floor. It's not surprising that some Sea Otters have favorite rocks, because every day they have to collect and eat enough shellfish to add up to 30% of their body weight. For the average otter, that's about 20 pounds of food per day! That's a lot of clams!
