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Table of Contents
Sea otters are born swimmers with long, sleek, streamlined bodies with webbed feet. These aquatic mammals are members of the weasel family are often seen floating on their backs.
See the fact file below for more information on Sea Otters, or alternatively, you can download our 25-page Sea Otter worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
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Sea otters are adorable and fascinating little mammals who live most of their lives in water, rarely ever going on land. They have thick, glossy, water-repellent fur and enjoy both swimming and floating on their backs. Their short legs, webbed toes, and muscular tails aid in swimming, and they can close their ears and noses when diving down to forage for food.
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- Common Name: Sea otter
- Scientific Name: Enhydra lutris
- Type: Mammal
- Diet: Carnivore
- Average Lifespan in the Wild: 15 -20 years
- Average Size: 3 ft 11 in – 4 ft 11 in (1.2 – 1.5 m)
- Average Weight: 30 – 100 lb (14 – 45 kg )
- Male sea otters are called boars, females are sows, and newborns are pups
- Group Name: Raft
- Subspecies – Three subspecies of the sea otter are recognized
- Asian sea otter, Enhydra lutris lutris
- northern sea otter, Enhydra lutris kenyoni
- southern sea otter, Enhydra lutris nereis
Description
- Sea otters are one of the smallest marine mammals in the world, yet they are the largest member of the weasel family.
- Sea otters have the thickest fur of any mammal/animal. Their fur contains up to 1,000,000 hair follicles per square inch. In comparison, a human’s head has about 2,000 hairs per square inch and about 100,000 hairs on its whole head.
- Sea otters have forepaws, which can rub, twist, and pull. Their paws also have retractable claws and palms with tough pads.
- Under their forearms are baggy pockets used to store food and sometimes stones which they use as tools.
- They have webbed hind legs, which look like flippers. They can swim on their backs easily, and their muscular tail helps them steer and swim.
- A sea otter’s lower jaw is equipped with four incisors. They have flattened and rounded molars for crushing and chewing food.
- Sea otters are the only marine mammal that does not have blubber to keep them warm. Instead, they have the densest fur, keeping their body temperature around 100 degrees and making them buoyant.
- Sea otters can see clearly above and below the water and have good senses of smell and hearing.
- Long, sensitive whiskers help the sea otter find prey in dark or murky water, and when underwater, their nostrils and ears close.
- Sea otters can hold their breath for up to five minutes but dives typically only last about one minute.
Habitat and Diet
- Sea otters are found almost everywhere in the world. They live in wet areas such as coastlines, oceans, and marshes of all continents except Australia and Antarctica and usually stay within two-thirds of a mile (1 km) offshore.
- Sea otters are carnivores, meaning they eat meat. They feed on over 100 species, including snails, crabs, clams, mussels, abalone, sea urchins, small mammals, and giant octopuses.
- They dive down and forage on the seafloor for food, using rocks to dislodge prey and open shells.
- Sea otters have a high metabolism. They spend around 40% of their time hunting and eating and eat about 25% of their body weight every day.
Reproduction and Young
- Female sea otters become sexually mature at around four years of age, and males at around five.
- Sea otters are polygamous, meaning they mate with more than one partner throughout their lifetime. The females raise their young without any assistance from the males.
- Among the northern population, female sea otters give birth between May and June, while southern populations are between January and March.
- Gestation is 4 to 5 months, resulting in a single pup that weighs 3 – 5 lb (1.5 – 2.5 kgs).
- Sea otters give birth in the water.
- Mothers care for their young while floating on their backs. The mother will hold her pup on her chest to nurse it and gradually teach it to swim, forage/hunt/retrieve food.
- Pups are born well-developed with their eyes open, a thick fur coat, and a set of teeth.
- Mother sea otters nurse their pup for about eight months.
- After 12 weeks of being fed and groomed, a pup is considered a juvenile
Behavioral Traits and Conservation Status
- Sea otters are very social animals who live in groups called a raft.
- A raft usually comprises single-sex sea otters numbering from 10 to over one hundred individuals.
- They are nocturnal mammals, which means they prefer to hunt and move around at night.
- Sea otters love grooming themselves and like to keep themselves meticulously clean, always grooming after eating.
- They groom by licking their fur, scratching it with their paws, and rubbing themselves against rocks or logs.
- Sea otters can survive their whole life without leaving the water, but some do rest on land for short periods.
- Sea otters are one of the few mammal species that are known to use tools like rocks to hunt and eat food.
- Over the past 45 years, the sea otter population has experienced a 50% decline.
- Due to their thick, soft pelts, sea otters were hunted extensively until an international ban was enforced to prevent their extinction.
- Among the dangers they face today are oil spills, shark attacks, conflict with humans, competition for food, and habitat degradation.
- Today, almost 90% of the sea otter population lives in the coastal waters of Alaska.
Predators
- Predators of sea otters include killer whales and sharks.
- Alligators, coyotes, raptors, and other large predators prey on North American river otters.
- Bald eagles have been observed swooping down and grabbing young sea otter pups.
- Sea otters dive underwater or cleverly play dead when they sense danger.
- Sea otters were hunted extensively for both food and their fur. By the early 20th century, the sea otter had almost been hunted to extinction, and it was estimated that less than 2,000 of them remained.
- Sea otters are now protected by law, and their numbers are considered stable.
Did You Know?
- Sea otters do well in captivity and can be found in many zoos and public aquariums where the public can enjoy watching their antics.
- Female sea otters coo when they are content, while males tend to grunt.
Sea Otter Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about sea otters across 25 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Sea Otter worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Sea Otters, which are born swimmers with long, sleek, streamlined bodies with webbed feet. These aquatic members of the weasel family are often seen floating on their backs.
Complete List of Included Worksheets
- Sea Otter Facts
- Sea Otter Card
- Physical Appearance
- Know Your Otter
- Alpha Otty
- Otty Saga
- Taxonomic Classification
- Who Eats What?
- Tale or Fact
- Sea and River
- It’s an Otter
Frequently Asked Questions
Do sea otters hold hands?
Sea otters do “hold hands”. They do this to keep them from drifting away from the group while they rest/sleep floating on their backs. They also rest/sleep wrapped in long strands of kelp which acts like an anchor keeping them close to their group and food source.
Why are sea otters going extinct?
The main threat to sea otters used to be hunting by native people who used their meat as food and their fur for clothing. Hunting has been banned, and now poor water quality and lack of quality habitat are the main threat to sea otters.
Do people eat sea otters?
Otter meat is nutritious and edible and was a valuable source of food for many people for many years. When prepared and cooked correctly, it makes a healthy, tasty stew.
Where do sea otters sleep?
Sea otters sleep on the surface of the water, floating on their backs and either holding on to each other or wrapped in strand kelp/giant seaweed to prevent them from floating away from their site.
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Link will appear as Sea Otter Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, August 5, 2018
Use With Any Curriculum
These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.