Sea Otter: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Dolphins and Otters · day 5 of 7

Five facts

1. Sea otters use rocks as tools. They pound shells against a stone held on the chest to crack them open.
2. A sea otter has a loose skin pouch under each foreleg. It stores food there, and sometimes a rock.
3. Sea otters have the densest fur of any animal, up to 150,000 hairs per square centimetre.
4. A sea otter has no blubber to keep warm, so it must eat about 25 to 38% of its own weight in food every day.
5. A mother leaves her pup floating while she hunts, sometimes wrapped in kelp so it does not drift away.

The quiz

1. What tool do sea otters use to crack shells?

• Rocks (correct)
• Sticks
• Coral
• Their tails

They pound shells against a stone on their chest.

2. Where does a sea otter store food it collects?

• In a skin pouch under its foreleg (correct)
• In its cheeks
• In a burrow
• In its tail

A loose pouch of skin sits under each foreleg.

3. What is special about sea otter fur?

• It is the densest of any animal (correct)
• It changes colour
• It is hollow
• It glows

It has up to 150,000 hair strands per square centimetre.

4. How much of its own weight must a sea otter eat each day?

• About 1 to 2%
• About 25 to 38% (correct)
• About 75%
• Twice its weight

It must eat about 25 to 38% of its own weight every day to stay warm.

5. What does a mother sometimes wrap her pup in?

• Kelp (correct)
• Leaves
• Fur from her chest
• Sand

She wraps it in kelp so it will not float away.

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