Sea Otters
Name: Joseph Denson
Date: November 7, 2012
Class: Composition
We are off the coast of California to watch for sea
otters. We are coming up to a kelp bed, where sea otters make their homes.
Sea otters are adapted to living in water by having
waterproof fur. They also have webbed feet for swimming, and they keep their
ears and eyes shut to keep out water. Otters have whiskers to feel surroundings
and prey. Sea otters do not hibernate
even in cold climates like Alaska.
Most of a sea otter’s food comes from the ocean floor. Sometimes
sea otters eat sea urchins. They have the ability to do this because their
mouths have tough skin. Sea otters also hunt fish. Sea otters play more than
any other mammal. This playing trains them for hunting when they are older.
A young sea otter is called an otter cub. An otter cub’s
fur is not waterproof. They stay on their mother’s stomach so they don’t
sink. Young sea otters feed off their
mother’s milk. When another unknown sea otter approaches, the baby gets behind
her mother until the other sea otter leaves.
Sea otter cubs stay with their mother for six months. Even after a sea otter leaves its mother, it
stays nearby.
Sea otters are dying due to fishing and getting tangled in
fishing nets. Sea otters have several natural predators such as the Orca whale and
Great White sharks. Pollution also plays
a role in killing sea otters. Man has been hunting the sea otter as well. The
sea otter is now a protected species that is not supposed to be hunted for its
fur. We know that we need to stop water
pollution. The sea otter still is faced
with many challenges to survive.
It has been a long day off the California coast. We are returning to shore and going home. We sure did learn a lot about sea otters and
are learning ways to protect them.
Bibliography
Alvin, Virginia, and Robert
Silverstein. The Sea Otter. Brookfield, CT: Millbrook, 1995. Print.
Brownell, M. Barbara. Amazing
Otters. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 1989. Print.
Whitlock, Ralph. Otters.
Sussex, Eng.: Priory, 1974. Print.
