Sea Otter Eats ice Treats and Sits Like a Human #shorts

#kpassionate #seaotter #shorts
Even though Joey the Sea Otter looks chunky, in reality he is quite slim. Sea otters are the only marine mammal without a subcutaneous layer of fat, or blubber. They have less than 2% body fat on average. While other marine mammals, like whales, depend on blubber to keep warm, sea otters instead rely on their dense fur coat. It is the densest fur coat in the animal kingdom at over a million hairs per square inch!

Sea otters, like Joey, also have an impressive metabolism that helps keep them warm in the cold waters of the North Pacific. Joey the sea otter eats about a quarter of his body weight every day. A 150-pound person would have to eat 35 to 40 pounds of food a day to match that. This helps Joey maintain an average body temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit! This high average body temperature is just one reason sea otters love ice treats. Ice helps them stay cool in the summer!

This super-charged metabolism is also why sea otters are considered a keystone species. Learn more here: https://youtu.be/MnL6VJ7KeHU

Joey the Sea Otter was rescued in 2020 off the coast of Vancouver Island after his cries were heard throughout the night. It was determined that he was only a day old and that his mother had tragically passed away. I was one of the lucky marine biologists who participated in his rescue and rehabilitation. Since he was so young at the time of rescue, biologists at the Department of Fisheries Canada determined that Joey the Sea Otter lacked the skills to survive in the wild and thus deemed him non-releasable. He has thrived under human care and adapted well to his new otter family.

Joey the sea otter is a perfect example of how one animal under human care can change the world for the better and make a difference in conservation.

While crunching on ice might look painful to us humans, ice is actually really good for a sea otter’s teeth. In the wild, sea otters will often use their teeth to crack into the hard shells of clams, mussels, and abalone. The abrasive shells will act like a toothbrush and scrape away plaque. Sea otter’s teeth are significantly more robust than human teeth so they can withstand the force necessary to break into the seashell. The molar’s of a sea otter have 6 roots instead of just two so they are specially designed for crunching.

However, it’s difficult to give oysters on the half-shell to marine mammals under human care. The seafood has to be carefully inspected for quality and freshness. In fact, their food is required to meet FDA standards for high end restaurants! But these sea otters still occasionally need something hard to chew on, not only to keep their teeth clean, but to satisfy an otter’s natural desire to crunch something.

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