ABOUT SEA OTTERS
Sea otters are supreme marine mammals, and some of the most magnificent marine mammals ever. They demonstrate astonishing swimming abilities. And, despite the fact that they do not swim extremely quickly, averaging merely 1½ miles per hour, they are masters of aquatic calisthenics.
Sea otters habitually swim on the surface of the water, stomach up. They impel themselves by means of their rear flippers. To guide in addition to navigate, they employ their tails. If they are alarmed, conversely, they will swim with their stomachs downward, as well as submerge themselves, to get away.
There are a small number of reasons that sea otters will dive due to, aside from getting away from danger. They will dive up to 120 feet to locate food. The longest dive yet documented lasted for a complete four minutes.
Sea otters consume many types of food. These comprise clams, crabs, snails, starfish, and abalone, along with 40 additional aquatic organisms. In view of the fact that various victuals they consume, for instance, clams and snails, encompass inflexible shells, they will exploit a small number of apparatus to eradicate the defense. Case in point, they may utilize of a small rock to bash the casing.
Otters are indeed very resourceful and intelligent. They are also very adaptable. Some examples of their intelligence include the facts:
- They are the only mammals other than primates that use tools.
- Certain sea otters found that octopuses lived in pop cans on the bottom of the ocean. Later, an otter was recorded retrieving eight cans in a 15 minute period, with five cans containing tasty octopuses.
- Individual sea otters living in the same area seem to have their own individual taste preferences. For example, one otter may like octopus while another may eat only crabs when octopus and crab are available in equal abundance.
Unfortunately, these majestic creatures were and still are poached for their beautiful fur. Their numbers have dropped significantly. However, the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act now protect sea otters, so they may still make a come back. We will find out in a couple of years…