Symmetry: Bilateral symmetry Structure: They have small eyes and ears, long body covered in fur, webbed feet, long tail, and whiskers. Appearance: They are small and covered in dark, shinny fur, with a long tail.
Biology
- Their feet are webbed in order to help them swim at faster speeds. - They are often seen floating on their backs and they do this to retain heat. Floating on their back and sticking their feet out of the water keeps the cold water on as little surface area of the sea otter as possible.
Distribution Map
Importance
Ecological: Eagles, sea lions, and humans are their main predators. They eat fish and marine invertebrates. Economical: Sea otters eat sea urchins which allows kelp forests to grow more efficiently and kelp harvesting is becoming a large industry in California.
Facts
- They are very defensive of their offspring. - Smallest of marine mammals but largest of the weasel family. - Has the densest fur of any animal on Earth. - To keep them from drifting apart from others they sleep while holding paws. - They can live their entire life without once leaving the water.
Vocabulary
- defensive: the action of defending from or resisting attack. - dense: closely compacted in substance. - webbed: having the toes connected by a membrane. - offspring: an animal's young. - predators: an animal that naturally preys on others.