LIVE SEA OTTER WEBCAM IN MONTEREY BAY

More Info: The sea otter is able to live its entire life without leaving the water. It has the densest fur of any animal on earth and unlike other marine mammals it does not have blubber to insulate against the cold. For this reason, the sea otter is obsessive with keeping its fur clean and spends a huge amount of time grooming.

Sea otters have an important role in their environment as they devour sea urchins. If the sea urchin population is left unchecked they will damage the kelp forests which provide food and cover for other marine creatures. As well as urchins, a sea otter's diet consists mainly of slow-moving fishes and marine invertebrates like crabs, abalones, clams, mussels, and snails. The sea otter is one of the few mammal species on Earth able to use a tool and it will use rocks to break and open shells to eat the insides.

A sea otter female will typically have her first pup when she is 4 to 5 years old. Females can give birth any time of the year, but most in California have their pup between January and March. Newborn sea otters weigh between 3 to 5 pounds. A sea otter pup has such dense fur and traps so much air that it is unable to dive underwater. When a mother leaves her pup to go and hunt for food, she will wrap the youngster in kelp, leaving it to bob on the surface of the ocean like a cork. Mothers spend much of their time grooming their pups and are often observed carrying them on their chest.

Sea otter pups begin to learn to swim at around 4 weeks old. After about eight months staying alongside their mothers, the pups are weaned and on their own.