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The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean.Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg (30 and 100 lb), making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among [3] the smallest marine mammals.
Once on the verge of extinction, the recovery of the sea otter is considered one of the greatest successes in marine conservation.. The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) is a marine mammal living near the shores of the North Pacific, from northern Japan, the Kuril Islands and Kamchatka east across the Aleutian Islands and along the North American coast to Mexico.
Most have sharp claws on their feet and all except the sea otter have long, muscular tails. The 13 species range in adult size from 0.6 to 1.8 m (2.0 to 5.9 ft) in length and 1 to 45 kg (2.2 to 99.2 lb) in weight. The Asian small-clawed otter is the smallest otter species and the giant otter and sea otter are the largest.
Enhydra is a genus of mustelid that contains the sea otter and two extinct relatives. It is the only extant genus of the bunodont otters group, referring to otters with non-blade carnassials with rounded cusps. [1] Sea otters probably diverged from other otters during the Pliocene, approximately 5 mya. [2]
Marine otters are known to be susceptible to Toxoplasma gondii infection along the northern and central coast of Chile, [14] though T. gondii seroprevalence in this otter species is lower than in other aquatic mustelids such as the southern river otter and American mink in southern Chile, [15] likely because of the general dryness of the former ...
Rosa was adopted by the Monterey Bay Aquarium in 1999 and served as surrogate mother for a record 15 otters. She outlived the life expectancy for wild southern sea otters.
The North American river otter was first described by German naturalist Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber in 1777. [9] The mammal was identified as a species of otter and has a variety of common names, including North American river otter, northern river otter, common otter and, simply, river otter. [9]
The first trading vessel dispatched solely for the purpose of the fur trade was the British Sea Otter commanded by James Hanna in 1785. [80] In his brief visit to the coast, he obtained 560 pelts, which fetched a profit of $20,000 in Canton. The promise of such profits encouraged other traders. [81]