Sea+Otter

Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris)

Introduction Did you ever watch the cute video of the two sea otters holding hands at the zoo on youtube? Well if you did I'm here to teach you about those adorable things. If not, here is the link and check it out. Come back when your done! Sea Otters holding hands! Life The [|sea otter] is a marine mammal that lives in the northern and eastern North Pacific feeare one of the most unique marine mammals because their main source of insulation is their fur, the densest in the animal kingdom. The Sea otter can walk on land but it mostly stays and lives within the ocean. Diet 

Sea otters consume over 100 different prey. They eat sea urchins, abalone, mussels, clams, crabs, snails and around 40 other marine species. The prey's size ranges from small limpets crabs to giant octopuses. In a study in 1960s, it was found that Sea otters consume fish too. 25% of their weight is eaten by them each day. Sea otters take the same dieting pattern as their mothers.

Breeding  Sea otters are polygnous meaning males have multiple female partners. Female sea otters have taken in the nickname, Rudolph, because of the bloody nose they get after mating. This is because they get a little rough when mating, males bite the females on the nose, making them bleed and scar, and holds their heads underwater. Their mating periods usually last about 15-20 minutes and the females start mating around 3 to 4 years. The female sea otter is pregnant up to 6.5 months. They can withold giving birth if they don't feel safe in their physical condition or surroundings. They tend to give birth in water, rarely on land. They also take their pups away from other otters, just to spoil it (groom and feed.) When born they aren't much bigger than kittens, weight about 3-5 pounds. Also they don't look like sea otters but turn out with the colors of a porcupine, yellowish and brownish. The thick, well-groomed fur keeps them afloat while their mothers dive for food. Females usually only have one pup at a time. When they rare opportunity of them having twins occurs, they abandon one of them because they can't take her of both. So sad. =(

Sites: http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/sea_otter.php# http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_otter http://library.thinkquest.org/J0111704/reproduction/reproduction.html