Sea otter awareness week
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This week is organised annually by Defenders of Wildlife, Sea Otter Savvy, California Department of Parks and Recreation, the Elakha Alliance and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Otters (Enhydra lutris) are the largest members of the weasel family. They are intelligent, resourceful animals. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, they were hunted almost to extinction for their dense pelts, which were used to make exceptionally warm, luxurious clothes. There were once three hundred thousand otters in the Pacific Northwest. That number has dropped to around one hundred and fifty thousand.
In 1911, the International Fur Seal Treaty was enacted, marking the beginning of a slow population recovery. Sixty-one years later, the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 was passed, which made it ‘illegal to hunt, harass, or kill marine mammals in U.S. waters.’
The sea otter is a keystone species, eating and controlling the population of sea urchins which might otherwise decimate the coastal kelp forests. Kelp is essential for carbon sequestration and so the otters play a significant role in balancing the delicate ecosystem.
Sea otters have probably used tools for millions of years, this proven by the rearing of orphaned otters, who have shown an innate ability to break open shells. Frequently, otters show that they favour one rock over another, carrying it with them in a fold of skin under their arms. Sometimes, if the rock is not sufficient for the job, or has been lost, they will smash a shell against the side of a boat or other hard surface, or use a crab claw to prise it open.
Otters eat, feed their young, and sleep on their backs. They form rafts with other otters, holding paws to maintain contact and avoid drifting away. Otter cubs are unable to dive underwater until they have grown their adult coat.
Sea otters are still an endangered species. While they are no longer hunted, they require clean water. They constantly clean their coats, the millions of hairs of which trap air to keep them warm, so are susceptible to contaminants.
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
I have only seen otters at the zoo and love watching them play.
ReplyDeleteI have only seen freshwater otters, but their behaviour is similar to the sea otters. I think they're gorgeous animals.
DeleteI blundered into an otter on Vancouver island. It surprised me.
ReplyDeleteI bet you surprised it!
DeleteAt the risk of seeming sentimental, I think of otters as being sweet, gentle animals, but I know so little about them, I guess I could be wrong. It is their little babyfaces that give them that look of gentle innocent little creatures.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean.
DeleteI have seen an inland river otter exactly once in my life.
ReplyDeleteIt's such a delight to see them, even if only once.
DeleteThey are cuteness overload! We see them frequently enough and we honor them.
ReplyDeleteYou are blessed.
DeleteThanks for the lesson. I've seen them at zoos. I didn't know they'd go so far inland as Portland, but the Columbia River must be nice for them. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteThey are such interesting animals.Very appealing.
DeleteHow amazing that otters eat, feed their young, and sleep on their backs!! Just by forming rafts with other otters, holding paws to avoid drifting away, it shows how intelligent they are.
ReplyDeleteThey are extraordinary.
DeleteOtters of all kind are probably my favorite non-domestic animal. They seem so clever, so communal… and they just look sweet. A friend has a great tale about crawling through otter poo in the dark (Canadian West Voast) on a mission to retrieve a dinghy that broke away from their yacht. Apparently due to whatever they'd been eating the otter poo turned out - when she got back into cabin lights - be be bright pink (and smelly).
ReplyDeleteBright pink poo - how wonderful, but UGH!
Deletethey are super smart too, many years ago at Sea World, now closed, I saw otters and beavers in a show...
ReplyDeleteThey are very entertaining, just by being!
DeleteInteresting info on the otters. They are so cute too
ReplyDeleteTheir faces are so appealing.
DeleteThere is a classic book about a woman I think in a crofter's cottage in Scotland who connected with otters and they became not captive but pseudo pets.
ReplyDeleteAre you thinking of 'Ring of Bright Water' by Gavin Maxwell? That was set in Scotland.
DeleteI've watched many PBS nature shows that tell how difficult their lives are today after decades of human interference and now that plus ocean debris. I am a nature lover and these are just one animal that needs help.
ReplyDeleteHumans have a lot to answer for, for the way they are destroying the natural world. Not for nothing is man considered the most dangerous animal on earth.
DeleteThey are so cute and so clever. Lying on their backs just drifting along with the world.
ReplyDeleteThey are delightful.
DeleteBefore my father passed away he volunteered for many years at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, which does wonders for local fish and game along the coast. It is an educational space as well as a fun place to visit.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful thing to do.
DeleteVery informative and interesting information. They have very cute faces!~
ReplyDeleteVery appealing.
DeleteTarka the Otter: His Joyful Water-life and Death in the Country of the Two Rivers by Henry Williamson
ReplyDeleteI had forgotten about Tarka the Otter.
DeleteWho knew there was a sea otter awareness week? But they are incredible creatures and deserve a week (or more) of their own.
ReplyDeleteI hope they continue to thrive, somewhat against the odds, one fears.
ReplyDeleteSorry they are endangered
ReplyDeleteSo many species are, and many more have already disappeared.
DeleteSea otters are so cute! I just love watching them, although I've still got to see one in the wild! That reminds me that I've got a small wooden sea otter sculpture somewhere ... Now where did it get to? xxx
ReplyDeleteI hope you find it. 😊
DeleteI really don't know too much about otters, but having read your post I now know much more ... so thankyou.
ReplyDeleteThey really are a cute looking creature.
All the best Jan
They are very attractive and seem to share some human characteristics, though, of course, they can't, really! 😟
DeleteWe knew the efforts to clean up our Allegheny river were working when put otters returned. They are fun to see.
ReplyDeleteI hope they continue to thrive and entertain. We need all the joy we can find.
DeleteI was lucky enough to see three that came to the place where I walk the other year. I got to see them really up close. They seem to have particularly sharp teeth! They were eating some fish and yikes - it was quite a mess.
ReplyDeleteI imagine they smell quite strongly of fish, too. 😁
ReplyDelete