Sea Otters - Research Essay
Sea Otter Research Essay
In the oceans today there are many different types of animals. This includes over 27,000 different types of bony fish along with thousands of other types of various animals. But would you have thought that an animal that is part of the weasel family lives in the ocean alongside all these other animals? Well it is true. The sea otter is this animal and has adapted well to an oceanic life.
The sea otter has differences between the male and female. As with following with nature the male of the two is the larger animal at approximately four and a half feet in length and weighing in at up to 85 pounds. The female is approximately four feet in length and weighs in at around the 55-pound mark. A newborn young of the species weighs in at 3-5 pounds and is approximately 16 to 22 inches in length.
Sea otters do not have the blubber that whales and dolphins do for insulation against the cold. They use fur as their insulation against the cold of the water. The fur that the sea otter has is the thickest fur of any mammal, with up to one million hairs per square inch. Since the fur is the key to the sea otter staying warm the amount of time that the sea otter must groom himself/herself is several hours a day. This is to keep the fur warm and fluffed full of air for insulation. If the sea otter was not to groom for several hours a day the fur would become matted and dirty and lose the insulation properties relied on to keep the sea otter warm. This is one of the reasons that oil spills are so devastating to the sea otter. The oil from the spill mats the animals fur and they die from hypothermia.
Another little trick that sea otter's use to conserve heat when resting is to remove their paws and hind flippers up out of the water. These appendages have little or no fur and therefore lose heat very rapidly. However these appendages are very strong and well articulated for use in hunting, eating and swimming. The sea otter employs one more method of keeping warm in the cold ocean temperatures. The animal's body produces a lot of body heat. As the animal is producing a lot of body heat through a high metabolism...