Sea Otter
By Ami Kusano
Description
CLASSIFICATION: (A.T.S.)
- marine mammal
SPECIAL BODY COVERING: (A.T.S.)
- thick, valuable fur that keep them warm
SIZE: (N.G.)
- height - 4ft (1.25m)
- weight - male:65lb (30kg) female:45lb (20.5kg)
COMMUNICATION: (S.W.)
- produce sounds and communicate vocally
- scent marking is important for marking territorial boundries
UNUSUAL CHARACTERISTICS: (book:Otters)
- 150,000 hairs per square cm/650,000 hiars per square inch compared to 100,000 hairs on person's whole head
- black, roughly diamond-shaped noses
Adaptation
ADAPTATIONS FOR PROTECTION: (N.G.)
- thick, waterproof petal keep sea otters warm
- closing both ears and nostrils to keep out water when diving
- spend time in ocean to be safe from land predators
STRUCTURE: (book:Otters)
- clear eyelids that serves as goggles, so sea otters can see underwater
- whiskers to feel vibrations of prey moving in water
BEHAVIOR: (N.G.)
- prefer to stay in water, but if there are too many sea otters in the water, they rest on land
- neat cleaning after every meals to keep their fur in good condition
- wrap themselves in floating kelp to avoid drifting out to sea
- mother otters swim with baby otters
ADAPTATIONS FOR GETTING AND EATING FOOD: (N.G.)
- use small rocks or stones to break open the shell of shellfish and crustaceans
- while floating on their back, put food on their stomach, and use their front paws to smash the rock against the shell until it breaks
- their front paws to smash the rock against the shell until it breaks
Reasons for Endangerment
REASONS FOR ENDANGERMENT: (K.P.)
- hunted for their thick, valuable fur and for food to near extinction in 20th century
- oil spill
- although they have ability to walk on land, they are capable of living exclusiveky in the ocean where many of their predators are
- began in 1700s, fur trappers and traders killed nearly one million of them
- entangled in fishing net and other equipments
- killer whales
- water pollution
- infection disease
- because of the act of human
Habitat
LOCATION: (Wiki.)
- most of them live in the coast of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia
TERRAIN: (K.P.)
- they are capable of living exclusively in the ocean
CLIMATE: (book: Otters)
- in the subtropical to arctic water on the Pacific coast where it is cold
HOME: (B.H.)
- their home is water
Food Chain
FOOD SOURCES: (Wiki.)
- eat clams, snails, ablones, crabs, starfish, mussels, scallops, squid, chitons, small octopuses, and a variety of other things
- eat about 160 different types of food
WHERE DOES THE SPECIES FIND FOOD: (D.O.W.)
- find most of their food in the sea
HERBIVORE, CARNIVORE, or OMNIVORE: (B.H.)
- they are carnivores
PREDATOR: (N.G.)
- the predators of sea otters are sharks, killer whales, humans, bald eagles, and more
PREY: (N.G.)
- the preys of sea otters are clams and shell fish
Critical Information
CRITICAL INFORMATION: (SORAC)
- The Monterey Bay Aquarium's Sea Otter Research and Conservation (SORAC) program
- study and try to save the threatened southern sea otters since 1984
- rescue and release stranded pups.
- provide care for sea otters that can't return to the wild and conduct scientific research
- study how sea otters live and die
- every spring and fall, they count sea otters in 400 miles California coast
- develop new technologies to study specificly about sea otters
- use dead sea otters to research how they got sick
- share their knowledge with other aquariums and wildlife rescue facilities
citation
Websites that I used
"Information About Endangered Sea Otters." Bright Hub. Web. 25 May 2012. <http://www.brighthub.com/environment/science-environmental/articles/57236 aspx>.
"OTTERS - Communication." OTTERS - Communication. Web. 25 May 2012. <http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/otters/communication.htm>.
"Saving Sea Otters." At the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Web. 25 May 2012. <http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/sorac.aspx>.
"Sea Otter: Classification, Characteristics, Reproduction, Habitat, Behaviour, Facts of Sea Otter." Sea Otter: Classification, Characteristics, Reproduction, Habitat, Behaviour, Facts of Sea Otter. Web. 25 May 2012. <http://www.allthesea.com/Sea-Otter.html>.
"Sea Otter FAQs - Kids Planet." Sea Otter FAQs - Kids Planet. Web. 25 May 2012. <http://www.kidsplanet.org/coolstuff/otters/faq.html>.
"Sea Otter." National Geographic. Web. 25 May 2012. <http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/sea-otter/>.
"Sea Otter." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 May 2012. Web. 25 May 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_otter>.
Book that I used
images that i used
Cartoons. Photograph. Liquid Life Laboratory. Liquid Life Laboratory. By Frank Fish. Web. 25 May 2012. <http://darwin.wcupa.edu/~biology/fish/cartoons/index.html>.
Colla, Phillip. Sea Otter Photo. 1996. Photograph. Oceanlight.com, California. Oceanlight.com. California Photographer, 1996. Web. 25 May 2012. <http://www.oceanlight.com/spotlight.php?img=21604>.
Maplab. "Range of Sea Otter." Map. Wikipedia. Www.iucnredlist.org, 31 Mar. 2012. Web. 25 May 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cypron-Range_Enhydra_lutris.svg>.
Saving Sea Otters. Photograph. Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey. Monterey Bay Aquarium. Web. <http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/sorac.aspx>.
Wang, Ming. Marine Species Under Threat. Photograph. National Geographic. National Geographic. Web. <http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/photos/marine-species-under-threat /#/endangered01-sea-otter_24051_600x450.jpg>.