In cold waters, sea otters float and charm

For whatever reason, some wild animals are near and dear to people’s hearts. They have a universal appeal, resulting in admiration across a broad range of people. For example, many are obsessed with owls – any kind of owl. Big ones, small ones – it really doesn’t matter.

The same can be said for other wild critters, such as otters. For whatever reason, everyone seems to love them. That was on full display last week while I was leading a photographic tour of bald eagles and sea otters in Alaska. For five days, my small group of photographers spent six hours a day photographing both.

There are 13 species of otter in the world, ranging in size from the small-clawed otter, which is less than 3 feet long, to the giant otter, which can reach 6 feet in length. All otters are semiaquatic or marine mammals in the weasel family. They are found on every continent except Antarctica and Australia.

The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) is the heaviest of the otter species. Males can weigh more than 100 pounds, while females are noticeably smaller. This makes sea otters the heaviest members of the weasel family, but also among the smallest of all marine mammals. Up close, it’s clear they’re large animals, reaching 4 to 5 feet in length, including their short tails.

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Sea otters live in cold ocean environments, and their primary insulation against the water is not fat, but fur. They have an exceptionally thick coat – the densest in the animal kingdom – with up to 1 million hairs per square inch. This dense fur prevents water from reaching their skin. Otters have two layers of fur: a dense underfur for insulation, and longer guard hairs that help keep water off the underfur.

They lack blubber, the fatty layer common in other marine mammals. Pups are born with a buoyant coat of fur that helps them float. However, it was that very fur that nearly wiped out the species. Beginning in the mid-1700s, sea otters were hunted extensively for their pelts. By the mid-1900s, their population had dropped to just 1,000 to 1,500 animals. Many believed the species would go extinct due to unregulated trapping. Recovery has been slow. Today, small populations exist in 13 regions around the world – from Japan and Russia to British Columbia, California and Alaska.

To maintain their body heat and survive in cold ocean waters, sea otters consume at least 20% of their body weight daily in marine invertebrates such as sea urchins, sea cucumbers, mollusks, clams and mussels. Unlike river otters, fish are not a major part of their diet, though sea otters occasionally eat birds such as loons and grebes.

Like others in the mustelid family, sea otters can reproduce at any time of year – meaning pups are sometimes born even in the middle of winter. We spent many days on a boat searching for sea otters and spotted several mothers with pups, which made for some adorable images. When we approached in the boat, the mother otters seemed more curious than cautious. They held their babies to their chests with their front paws and floated on their backs. Using a long lens, we were able to capture some intimate moments between mother and pup. Until next time …

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Editor’s note: Stan Tekiela’s NatureSmart column appears twice a month in the Eden Prairie Local News. Tekiela is an author, naturalist, and wildlife photographer who travels extensively across the United States to study and capture wildlife images. 

You can follow his work on Instagram and Facebook. He can be contacted via his website at www.naturesmart.com.