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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.
A sea otter using a rock to break open a shell. The sea otter, Enhydra lutris, is a member of the Mustelidae that is fully aquatic. Sea otters are the smallest of the marine mammals, but they are also the most dexterous. Sea otters are known for their ability to use stones as anvils or hammers to facilitate access to hard-to-reach prey items.
Sea otters have dexterous hands which they use to smash sea urchins off rocks. Otters are the only marine animals that are capable of lifting and turning over rocks, which they often do with their front paws when searching for prey. [61] The sea otter may pluck snails and other organisms from kelp and dig deep into underwater mud for clams. [61]
Sea Otters can swim up to six miles per hour and hold their breaths for up to four minutes. They use these skills to dive as deep as 330 feet beneath the surface. 4.
A sea otter eyes its lunch, one of two invasive European green crabs it was able to retrieve underwater. Photo taken in 2011 in Moss Landing, CA. Green crabs are originally from Europe and arrived ...
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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.
On land, sea otters and pinnipeds often perform ‘nosing’ behaviours at prominent scent glands which indicate some level of detection of chemical signals. It was previously perceived that they do not undergo chemical communication underwater, as most of these animals close their nasal opening underwater and the semi-aquatic mammals are known ...