Because of their (somewhat) human-looking heads, and the white facial hair they often get as they age, sea otters are sometimes called the old men of the sea.
Although members of the weasel family, these 60-80 pound marine mammals do not exhibit the aggressive attitudes typical of some of the other members of the family.
Sea otters are very clumsy out of the water, so they seldom venture on land.
Their diets consist of shell fish, octopuses, and other generally slow-moving sea animals.
With about 500,000 hairs per square inch, they have the finest fur of all mammals.
Whoa, 500,000 hairs/sq"?!! I guess they are not in need of the Hair Club for Men or Minoxidil...I also never realized that they weighed quite that much....I think this one decided zinc oxide was the way to go.
Love the photos, love the info...thanks Charlie!
Eric
Seeing these guys in person and seeing just how big they is impressive. You captured their personality quite well Charlie. They seem to not have a care in the world.
Thanks Mike, Ken, Ron, Eric, Tim and Birdie.
I agree about the last shot looking like he's praying. Actually, I don't know what he's doing. They eat and rest and sleep while floating on their backs. When they want to swim fast they have their faces down, but this one's hind flippers aren't in position for that.
Perhaps the otter was just rolling. They do that a lot to clean their fur and to aerate it with tiny bubbles- which cling to the thin hairs and help with insulation (they have no thick layer of fat like seals and sea lions). The trapped air and their dense fur keep them warm in the cold water and even colder winter air. Plus their high metabolic rate; sea otters eat about 15-20 pounds of meat every day.
Charlie
PS- as to their weight, I should have mentioned that those numbers represent adult males. Adult females are usually a bit smaller and lighter.
it looks as though he is holding something. i know in california that they find abalone on the sea floor and then pry them open on the surface using their tummies as a table. maybe that is what is happening here? whatever the case, the shots are really nice charlie!
Charlie, the first image gave me a good laugh.
And it remains my favorite of this very fine post of you.
Thanks for sharing. My weekend starts in a happy mood.
Chris
Thanks guys.
I don't know if there are abalone in south-central Alaska waters, but there are shellfish with tough shells. A typical way to break them open is for the sea otter to pick up a rock from the bottom and carry it around. After grabbing a shellfish, they float on their backs with the rock on their belly; and using their front paws like hands, they bang the shellfish against the rock until it cracks. Then they eat the meat.
Using rocks as tools. Pretty smart critters.
Charlie
The first is my pick Charlie. We saw many of them when we were in CA in February. We had the treat of seeing one floating on its back as in the first image with its baby on its belly. By the time I remembered I was carrying my camera the opportunity for a photo was gone.
Morris
Jul 20, 2012 at 07:42 PM
Thomas Sanders Offline • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
Thank you Morris, Tom and Thomas.
I'm guessing that you were in the Morro Bay/Morro Rock area, Morris. It's a great place to see wildlife. I've seen sea otters there, sea lions, seals and there was a pair of peregrine hawks that nested on Morro Rock. I once saw (just across the narrow channel) a peregrine scattering a hundred+ sun-tanning gulls and other birds as he dove and landed on a cormorant. Although smaller than its prey, nevertheless the peregrine squeezed the cormorant with its talons until it stopped flapping around; then it fed for about 15 minutes. And then it flew off with most of the remains. That's quite a lot of lifting power.
Additionally- up the coast from Morro Bay and just beyond Hearst Castle- in recent years there have been a couple hundred elephant seals that pull out on the beach a hundred yards from the highway- for molting, or giving birth to new generations. Or the big males fighting each other for mating rights with the females.
Charlie
