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Endangered Listing
According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, southern sea otters are listed as a threatened as of January 1st, 1977. This listing encompasses wherever they are found in their natural habitat located in the Pacific Southwest region called Region 8. These beautiful creatures are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which makes hunting, harassing, capturing, or killing them illegal and punishable. Let's all do our part to keep these furry friends safe!
fun facts about southern sea otters
Description
Southern Sea Otters, or Enhydra lutris nereis, are sea mammals that get to experience the best of both worlds: land and sea! This species is often also cross-listed as California Sea Otters. They usually grow to be around 4 feet long and weigh 45-65 pounds depending on whether it's a male or female at maturity. This makes them the heaviest of the otters, and the only exclusive marine mammal of the Mustelidae family.
They have short broad heads, blunt snouts, and their cheeks are covered with stiff whiskers. Their whiskers sense vibrations in the water, which makes them effective shellfish hunters when paired with their excellent eyesight. These otters have two thick brown coats of fur to keep them warm and toasty while they swim. The first layer is the reddish brown underfur, which is less dense and longer (reminds me of the fur on a cat's belly!) whereas the longer guard hairs are light brown to blond and act as a waterproof barrier that protects the underfur. They have to groom themselves regularly to promote air bubble formation that acts as insulation.
One of the coolest things about southern sea otters is their tendency to use surrounding objects as tools! They view mollusks, abalone, and crabs as a delicacy, and will use rocks as hammers or anvils to open up their shells for a tasty treat. They then use their strong canines and molars to crush and grind up their food. How amazing is that? These sea mammals are big eaters because they have no blubber like other marine mammals. This means they have to eat around 25% of their body weight to keep up with their high metabolism. Can you imagine eating a quarter of your body weight?! That's amazing.
Southern sea otters are easy to distinguish from other otter species because they prefer to swim or float on their backs using their tails for rapid vertical movements and their flippers for strokes that propel them forward. They are also not known to be very social creatures, and often occur in groups of 1 to 12+ known as rafts.
Image Source: PXFuel
image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/taylar/270761642
Predators & Prey
Southern sea otters are carnivorous and they prey on crabs, lobsters, urchins, clams, abalone, snails, mussels, scallops, chiton, cephalopods, and other invertebrates as well as some fish.
These otters are preyed on by sharks and orcas.