Sea Otters Bookmark

Description

The giant kelp beds of the Pacific coast are like forests…their tops spread out on the ocean surface in a great canopy like treetops.  Sea otters spend their lives in and around the kelp beds and seldom go ashore.  They find their food in and under the kelp.  The otter’s favorite food is shelfish from the ocean floor…sea urchins and mussels.

Baby sea otters receive much loving attention from their mothers.  Much of the time the mother floats on her back cradling the little otter with her forlegs.  When the mother has to collect food she places her pup among the strands of kelp to keep it from drifting away.

Sea otters were long hunted for their thick, luxrious fur.  When Europeans discovered and hunted the sea otter, populations were quickly decimated and these fun-loving creatures were brought to the edge of extinction.  Sea otters are now protected and their populations are growing, but ocean coastal pollution from oil, sewage and industrial waste still threaten their survival.