Mother sea otter with rare twin baby pups |
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 (31 and 99 lb), making
them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine
mammals.
The
heaviest members of the weasel family, sea otters are also the second smallest
marine mammals. Unlike other marine mammals, they do not have a layer of
blubber to help them keep warm.
These
animals do nearly everything in the water, including giving birth and sleeping.
Fur hunters once pushed sea otters to the brink of extinction and a century ago
only 1,000 to 2,000 individuals remained. Today the otters are protected, and
their numbers have swelled to perhaps 150,000.
Sea
otters spend much of their lives in the water and can dive up to 330 feet when
foraging for food. They sometimes rest in coastal kelp forests, often draping
the kelp over their bodies to keep from drifting away.
Sea otters live in shallow
coastal waters off the northern Pacific. Their historic range stretched from Japan , along the coast of Siberia and the
Aleutian Chain and down the Alaska , British Columbia , Washington ,
Oregon and California
coast to Baja California .
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