Otters are able to walk on land if required but are capable of spending their entire lives in the water, making them the only members of the weasel family able to do so. Instead the sea otter relies on its thick fur to keep its body temperature around 100 degrees. Sea otters are the smallest marine mammals and are a part of the weasel or mustelid family. Sea urchins are carnivorous predators, eating mostly sea urchins. The sea otters blow air into their thick fur to keep themselves warm as they swim and hunt in the kelp canopies. Cleaning, untangling, removing loose fur, squeezing water out and blow drying! Biologydictionary.net Editors. With the ear flaps down, it will be more difficult to hear the fur is so thick. How does a sea otter care for its coat? Finally, much like humans and many other mammals, otters have sharp, pointed front teeth that aid in slicing and tearing their food as well as several flat, round molars used for crushing and grinding their food. In areas where otters are absent, sea urchins have overtaken the kelp on which they feed, laying waste to hectares of kelp forests that provide essential habitat for many species, including a nursery for common commercially fished species. However, it is only once they were hunted nearly to extinction that we came to realize their value alive as a keystone species rather than a fur pelt. Biologydictionary.net, October 06, 2020. https://biologydictionary.net/sea-otter/. Otters will often hold hands to keep from drifting away from one another. Sea Camp offers three one-week sessions for boys and girls ages 8-13 and two three-week coed sessions for teens ages 12-17. Sea otters eat about 25% of their weight every day, and is arguably the number one cause in sea otter deaths, when they cannot forage enough food to feed themselves. Currently, sea otters can be found in approximately two-thirds of their historic range, although they remain an endangered species. But all that fur needs some careful attention. Besides just being extremely dense there are also two layers to their fur making their fur 1.5 inches thick when dry. The sea otters blow air into their thick fur to keep themselves warm as they swim and hunt in the kelp canopies. These sea-otter furs were highly desirable decoration and lining in Qing court costume. Sea otters have incredibly dense fur, with up to 150,000 hair follicles per square centimeter. Sea otter fur is so dense it’s basically waterproof. Email. However, females will continue to nurse and care for pups for about 6 months before weaning them entirely. The first otter-themed event is a talk by Tom Beasley about the sea otter fur trade. The largest of this weasel family, sea otters weigh 31-100 lb (14-45 kg). Outer guard hairs are around 1 1/3 inches long and when properly groomed lay flat against the body. A group of otters is called a "raft." The earmuffs are made of the softest most exquisite fur available on the market today. Historically, sea otters were ubiquitous along the west coast of North America from Alaska to Mexico. Their fur is so dense, there are about a million hairs in every square inch of their body. Like other members of this family, they have very thick fur. Alaskan Natives are the only ones that are allowed to hunt and alter their highly prized furs. Sea otters are a medium-sized member of the Mustelidae family. Retrieved from https://biologydictionary.net/sea-otter/. Sea otter pups are born with a special coat that acts like a lifejacket and prevents them from being able to dive. 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. Sea otter fur has an undercoat and a longer top guard coat. Sea otters first became protected from the fur trade by the International Fur Seal Treaty in 1911, after the population had decreased to about 2,000 as a result of unrestrained hunting for furs. In the late 1960s, 413 sea otters were transplanted to several locations in Southeast Alaska and the population began a remarkable recovery. Summer camp on Catalina Island is a great way to spend the summer. In thanks to this thick coat – which consists of long, waterproof guard hairs over their shorter underfur that keeps water completely away from their skin – they are the only marine mammal to keep warm using fur rather than a fat layer for insulation. Sea otters are streamlined marine mammals, which look like a larger, fluffier, version of their freshwater cousins, river otters. Following copulation and a gestation period of about six months, females typically give birth to just one pup. You can see how dry it is close to the skin. Instead of blubber, sea otters have the densest fur of any mammal. When the otter swims, its coat traps a layer of air close to its body. Menu. That layer of air gives the otter’s fur a glossy look as it tumbles through the water. Send keyboard focus to media. This rare item can only legally be hunted and sewn by Alaska Natives. They have a rich fur for which humans hunted them almost to extinction. Underneath the guard hair is another layer of fur that stays completely dry. The Taakdeintaan peoples were renowned Sea Otter hunters and artist. Sea otters are not nearly so versatile. Sea otters have the thickest fur of any animal. Indeed, their fur is the densest in all of the animal kingdom. Where to find Sea Otter. In 1911, the International Fur Treaty provided the few hundred remaining sea otters with their first measure of protection. Sea otters are a keystone species, meaning their role in their environment has a greater effect than other species. Unlike most marine mammals, sea otters do not have a blubber layer to help keep them warm in the chilled waters of the Pacific. Sea Otter's item drop, stats, hit, flee, range, speed, race, element, size, base exp, job exp, hp and sp. Sea otters are the second smallest marine mammals. The most recorded population in found in Alaskan waters off the coast. Sea otters eat shellfish and other invertebrates (especially clams, abalone, and sea urchins). Sea otter grooms his fur in an estuary (photo taken from shore with a 150 mm zoom by Gena Bentall) Share your sightings with us! At two months old the pup sheds this special coat. Well you're in luck, because here they come. Subscribe to our email list now to schedule a tour of CIMI. The sea otter fur also consists of two layers, a waterproof layer of long protective hair with a layer of short thick fur under it. 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. 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