In the northern latitudes there lives a marvelous marine animal - sea otter. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that, as a representative of mammals, he prefers the aquatic environment over land. And this is far from the only oddity inherent in this species. Let's get to know him better.
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Initially, there was a long debate about which family the sea otter belongs to . The otter was their close relative, but a number of special differences forced scientists to doubt the final verdict. Ultimately, they agreed that they included the sea otter in the family of martens, but at the same time distinguished them in a separate form. True, some even today call these animals "sea otters."
The very word "sea otter" came from the Kuril Islands. The fact is that the locals called these animals kalaga ("beast" in Koryak). Subsequently, this name was picked up by Russian hunters, who then brought it to the scientific community. It should also be noted that at the moment, scientists distinguish three subspecies of these creatures:
- Common or Asian sea otter.
- Northern Sea otter.
- Southern or California Sea otter.
Area
Today you can meet sea otters in the northern latitudes of the Pacific Ocean. The most numerous groups live off the coast of Kamchatka, California, Alaska, Canada and the Aleutian Islands. Also, thanks to the efforts of scientists, small settlements of these animals were bred near Japan and British Columbia.
In the past, the range of sea otters was much wider. But due to mass extermination by people, in the 19th century, the borders of their homes narrowed significantly. Now they can be found only in the above places, while before they populated almost all the northern coasts of the Pacific Ocean.
Appearance
To begin with, the common, southern and northern sea otters have the same external features. Their division is based on habitat, and not on external or social differences. Therefore, this description is suitable for the entire species as a whole.
This is a rather large animal: a sea otter grows up to one and a half meters in length and weighs about 25-35 kg. Despite these proportions, it is perfectly adapted to the aquatic lifestyle. His body has an oblong shape, with a small round head. The tail of the animal is short: thick at the base and thin at the end.
The main advantage of a sea otter is the hind legs, equipped with durable membranes. They allow the animal to expertly swim and dive. But the forelimbs are devoid of such a device. Instead, they end with strong fingers, at the end of which is located the main weapon of the sea otter - claws.
The fur of the animal is quite dense and thick. Thanks to this, it perfectly tolerates cold and frost. In addition, the ability to release grease on the surface of six allows the sea otter to keep the skin dry even while swimming under water. As for the color of the fur, the most common are brown individuals. However, rare individuals are found within the colony that are born with snow-white coat.
Lifestyle
So, what habits does this animal have? Sea otter spends most of his time at sea, only occasionally floating to land. As mentioned earlier, he has everything you need for this: thick fur, a thick layer of fat and powerful legs equipped with membranes. More curious is the fact that the beast can not only swim freely, but also sleep on water. To do this, he rolls onto his back and lay down peacefully on the surface. And so that the sea current does not take him far from the coast, the sea otter is wrapped with algae, which serve as a kind of anchor to it.
Despite the passionate love for the sea, animals can be on land for a long enough time. Most often, they go ashore in cold weather, so as not to spend extra energy to maintain heat in ice water. At the same time, animals try to settle on rocky coastal zones. This is necessary in order to hide among the stones from people. After all, it is man who is the main enemy of sea otters.
But they are friends with animal neighbors. They can often be found in the company of seals, walruses and even birds.
Diet
This is a predatory animal. Sea otter skillfully hunts fish and shellfish, grabbing them afloat with tenacious paws. In addition, he loves to catch sea urchins and crabs. The beast deals with the latter through stones: a strong shell cannot be bitten by teeth, and therefore it is smashed with solid objects.
Sea otters hunt mainly during the day. However, if necessary, they can easily go looking for food at night. True, in this case, they would rather comb the coastline, rather than go to catch water in the water. After all, they don’t need eyesight on a creature - they can very well count on a good scent.
On the verge of extinction
Today sea otters are listed in the Red Book. The reason for this was the stupidity of man. In the XVII-XIX centuries, hunters from all over the world came to the Northern latitudes in order to get valuable animal fur. Because of this, by the beginning of the 20th century, the population of animals decreased by more than 80%, which could lead to the complete extinction of the species.
Fortunately, environmental organizations stopped the atrocities in time. Now the number of sea otters is gradually going up. However, it is too early to talk about a complete victory, because due to global warming, soon this species will run the risk of encountering a new, no less dangerous disaster.