World Otter Day: Fun facts about this most adorable aquatic animals
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River otters have a tiny head and cylindrical body and weigh 10 to 30 pounds on average. Sea otters have larger, hairy faces and weigh more, between 45 and 90 pounds.
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Skunks, weasels, wolverines, and badgers are all members of the Mustelidae family of carnivorous animals, which also includes otters. The sea otter is the smallest marine mammal in North America and the largest member of the weasel family.
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Coastal Alaska is home to over 90% of the world's sea otters. Many inhabit the waters around public places including Glacier Bay National Park, Kenai Fjords National Park, and Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge.
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Otters have powerful bites and robust teeth. As a result, whether you observe an otter on land or at sea, keep your distance from it at least 5 kayak lengths or 60 feet. Find out more about protecting yourself against sea otters.
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Sea otters are known to split open clams with a rock while floating in the water and eat sea urchins, crabs, mussels, and clams as part of their diet. Sea otters use their muscular forepaws to dig for clams or their sensitive whiskers to find small creatures inside cracks to find food. They may occasionally dive as deep as 250 feet.
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Each square inch of their fur contains 600,000 to 1,000,000 hair follicles. Otters don't have a blubber layer like the majority of other marine mammals. Instead, they rely on the insulation that their thick, water-resistant fur offers.
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While northern sea otter pups in Alaska are often born in the spring, southern sea otters breed and produce young all year long. A young puppy needs continual care and stays with its mother for six months while learning how to survive.
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Compared to other terrestrial animals of a similar size, an otter's lung capacity is 2.5 times bigger. Sea otters have been observed remaining underwater for periods of up to five minutes. However, river otters have an 8-minute breath-holding capacity. The more time spent underwater, the better the otters' chances of detecting animals and scavenging for food.
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A rock that may be used as a hammer or anvil to crack open hard-shelled food is the preferred tool of sea otters. Ever wonder where otters keep these tools to keep them safe? They keep their foraged food and the rock they need to open it under a loose patch of skin beneath their armpit.
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