Marine Otter
South American Endangered Animal
Description
The Maine Otter is a mammal and it has a fur coat to keep it warm and for other reasons. The weight of one otter usually ranges between 3.2 to 5.8 kg. The average length one otter is 83 to 115 cm and they communicate vocally.(Ark)
Critical Information
The Marine Otter is in the endangered stage and the population rate is decreasing. Some major threats to the otter are habitat destruction, pollution, and poaching/excessive hunting. One thing being done to protect it is that some countries are making laws to protect it. It id protected by Argentina, Chile, and Peru.(Ark)
Food Chain
The Marine Otter is an omnivore and is somewhere in the middle of the food chain. It eats fish, cephalopods, crustaceans, and mollusks. It occasionally eats shore-side fruit when it is in season. The otter only has two main predators which are sharks and killer whales.(Ark)
Habitat
The Marine Otter is rarely found in freshwater, it prefers coastal areas. They tolerate rough conditions and enjoy regions with a variety of fish, mollusks, and crustaceans.(Ark)
Adaptation
The Marine Otter has many ways to adapt, first, they use their feet to reduce or maximize heat loss when water temperatures are too hot or too cold. Another adaptation developed by the marine otter is how they have been shown to increase or decrease their buoyancy in response to fluctuation in water temperature. The marine otter’s feet are webbed which are good for picking up speed in the water. Also the marine otter has very good eyes which allow them to see very good underwater and on land.(Ark)
Eddie the arthritic otter shoots hoops
Now lets team up and save Eddie and all his otter friends.
Group Works Cited
Photo Credits
photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/two-wrongs/35763748/">Vicki & Chuck Rogers</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>