Otter Species ~> Sea Otter

Sea Otter

Size: From nose to tail, the Sea Otter is 27 to 64 inches long. The tail is 5 to 13 inches long.
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!

Halloween River Otters! (habitat enrichment vid)

Have an otterly amazing Halloween! ; )

Seattle Aquarium River Otters having some Halloween fun!

Environmental enrichment is the alteration of an animal's environment (habitat) in a way to make it more stimulating (or complex) to that animal. This technique is used to improve the health and well-being of captive animals. Zoos and aquaria use this technique to help to conserve the animal in it's entirety, behaviorally as well as genetically.

See Enrichment for more info!

Environmental Enrichment

“What is an enriched environment? It is one that allows animals to perform natural behaviors, gives animals control over their lives, eliminates frustration, makes captive environments more interesting, gives animals more choice, and allows animals to be more active. Enrichment of the enclosure involves the physical environment including shape, size and complexity. Complexity consists of an animal environment such as visual barriers, climbing or traveling structures, substrates, rest/sleep areas and temporal complexity. Manipulable objects such as toys and vegetation, the opportunity to use five senses, and the social environment are all beneficial to the animal. The types of food offered, the frequency and presentation play a large role in enriching the lives of our captive charges."
(Grams, K. 2000. Exhibitry and Enrichment of North American River Otters (Lontra canadensis) at The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Animal Keepers’ Forum, Vol. 27, No. 4. Quotation is referencing a presentation given by D. Shepherdson & J. Mellen at the First Environmental Enrichment Conference in Portland, Oregon, 1992.)


Need some examples?

Woodland Park Zoo has some beautifully enriched environments! The enclosures are spacious and filled (as much as possible) with the types of plants and terrain that would be found in an animal's natural environment.

Check out the bear enclosure! They have plenty of space to move around, and can interact with their environment in a relatively normal way. You can't see it here, but they even have a pool to swim in!
  
Grizzly bears at Woodland Park Zoo, Photo: "snowlepoard"


 The African enclosure mimics the savannah, and includes several species that would commonly interact in the wild.





 African savannah exhibit at Woodland Park Zoo, Photo: "nerdgirl99"


 
 Another type of enrichment involves including objects that an animal may not find in its natural environment, but which are mentally stimulating and keep the animals from getting bored.......like BALLS!
(or pumpkins, check this out!)

 Polar bear at Budapest Zoo, Photo: EPA
 
 Polar bear at Pittsburgh Zoo, Photo: Heather Mull.



For the sake of thoroughness, un-enriched environments look like this:
  
Chimpanzee cage "Ghost Zoo" in Dublin, Ireland. Photo: Sam Whitbread

 
  Sun bear cage "Ghost Zoo" in Dublin, Ireland. Photo: Sam Whitbread

Animals kept long-term in enclosures like the one above tend to be unhappy, more sickly, lethargic, and more aggressive.

The impact of sea otters on kelp forests and potential incidental influence on climate change

Too much CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere traps heat ( Climate Change- How do we know? ). Kelp "eats" (has a high rate of uptake of) atmospheric CO2. Sea urchins eat kelp (releasing CO2). Sea otters eat sea urchins.

See where this is going? ; )

The authors of is article (see: "Do trophic cascades affect the storage and flux of atmospheric carbon? An analysis of sea otters and kelp forests" ) combine sea otter research from the past 40 years, over their North American range, to look at the impacts that sea otters, due to their consumption of sea urchins, have on the health of kelp beds and as a result on the amount of atmospheric CO2, and the C (carbon) cycle.
Their findings?
"Although questions remain concerning the pathways and compartments of kelp C flux and storage, sea otters undoubtedly have a strong influence on these elements of the C cycle. Predator-induced trophic cascades likely influence the rates of C flux and storage in many other species and ecosystems."

In other words, the sea otters eating sea urchins helps to keep the population of sea urchins "in control", keeping them from eating so much kelp, which means that there is more kelp to "eat" more CO2, which means there is less CO2 bouncing around in the atmosphere!


Link to research:
"Do trophic cascades affect the storage and flux of atmospheric carbon? An analysis of sea otters and kelp forests" Christopher C Wilmers, James A Estes, Matthew Edwards, Kristin L Laidre, and Brenda Konar

       

 

Sea Otter Web Cam (s) at Monterey, Seattle, and Vancouver Aquariums and Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium

Want to see some otters? Want to see some otters NOW?!?
Here are the sea otter webcams at Monterey Bay Aquarium, Seattle Aquarium , Vancouver Aquarium , and Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium!
This is live, streaming, video of the sea otter (habitats).  Enjoy!

Otters and Monkeys at the San Diego Zoo! (vid)

Spotted-Necked Otters and Allen's Swamp Monkeys both live in the Congo Regions of central Africa.
They also both share the "Lost Forest" habitat at San Diego Zoo! (...and here is a blog from a "Lost Forest" ZooKeeper, San Diego Zoo)

The otters alone are in the first part of this video, but keep watching 'til ~1:45!  ; )
Enjoy!


Thank you to ElKayeVideos, who posted this on YouTube!