Sea Otter Uses Rocks to Break an Ice Treat! #shorts

#seaotters #kpassionate #shorts
Sea otter arms are not just cute and stubby but also extremely powerful! They can hammer a rock at a abalone 45 times in 15 seconds to crack it open and eat what's inside! Now that's impressive!

In the wild, sea otters will often use tools like rocks to crack into the hard shells of clams, mussels, and abalone. However, it’s not always possible 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 the instinct to use tools to break into a shell doesn’t go away just because these sea otters are living under human care. That’s one of the reasons we give them ice treats. It also doesn’t hurt that sea otters LOVE ice.

Sea otters don’t always use rocks to crack into the hard shells of clams, mussels, and abalone. Sometimes, they just use their teeth! 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.

Ice also helps sea otters keep cool. The normal body temperature of a sea otter is much higher than humans thanks to their thick fur coat. A sea otter's fur is the densest in the animal kingdom! Not to mention the fact that sea otters have an extremely high metabolism that helps them make heat energy. All to help them stay warm in the frigid North Pacific.

The sea otter with the nose scar is Moea. She was found stranded on a beach after her fur had become tainted with oil from a spill. Moea was rehabilitated and returned her to the wild but the little sea otter preferred the company of humans and would often seek out humans. This posed a danger to both the humans and herself. As a result, she was also deemed non-releasable by government agencies and will remain under human care.

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