The Otter of the Sea floats amongst its raft of colony members. The Otter of the Sea was almost trapped to extinction through the 1800's because of their desirable fur coats. Their coats are among the thickest among mammals, the Otter of the Sea needs this to survive in the cold northern Atlantic Ocean.
The Otter of the Sea is very social and travels in 'rafts' of otters. These rafts can be up to 1,000 otters. The Otter of the Sea as a pup almost got snatched up by a bald eagle in Alaska. Bald eagles will occasionally prey on the young pups in rafts of females. |
The Otter of the Sea eats 20 to 30 percent of its body weight to keep warm in the cold northern Atlantic Ocean. To help maximize their body heat retention in their cold environment the coats have two layers an undercoat, and then longer guard hairs and they have to give or take 1 million hairs per square inch. The smaller hairs help trap air next to their skin thus they never really get wet. Although the one downfall of this system is when foreign objects and substances enter the Otter of the Sea's fur this then destroyed the effectiveness of the fur's air trapping ability. This makes the Otter of the Sea vulnerable to hypothermia when this happens. This is why the Otter of the Sea obsessively grooms its fur; this rids the fur of foreign material.
The Otter of the Sea what is known as a keystone species meaning if it becomes extinct the ecosystem around it will collapse because that ecosystem is so dependent on its role in it. This is why so many conservation efforts have been made to save the Otter of the Sea.
The Otter of the Sea is one of the few marine mammals known to use tools. The Otter of the Sea often uses rocks to aid as a hammer or an anvil to break open hard-shelled mollusks and shellfish. This has dramatically helped their ability to procure large amounts of food to support their evolution and growth of their brains. This makes the Otter of the Sea one of the most intelligent marine mammals.
The Otter of the Sea is one of the few marine mammals known to use tools. The Otter of the Sea often uses rocks to aid as a hammer or an anvil to break open hard-shelled mollusks and shellfish. This has dramatically helped their ability to procure large amounts of food to support their evolution and growth of their brains. This makes the Otter of the Sea one of the most intelligent marine mammals.
The Giant River Otter is peacefully eating an Amazonian tropical freshwater fish. Unbeknownst to the Giant River Otter the Otter of the Sea had traveled all the way from Alaska and quietly snuck up behind it through an estuary. Using all of its evolutionary traits to its advantage the rare massive 100 pound Otter of the Sea wacks the head of the Giant River Otter with a rock. The Giant River Otter now unconscious because it did not have the use of tools on its side.
The Otter of the Sea trounces the Giant River Otter! |
The Giant River Otter was nearly hunted to extinction during the 1950’s and 60’s and the Giant River Otter was so close to extinction that ion 1979 just twelve of them remained. The reason for this mass genocide was the desirability of its coat, which had a soft velvety feel, the reason for this thick velvety feeling was because of its bottom layer of fur that covered its skin, when dried and taken care of, the pelt was extremely soft.
The Giant River Otters social life is heavily reliant of other otters, as they do everything together, from hunting, playing, sleeping, and traveling together! The giant river otter can bee seen with groups from two to twenty, but most group sizes have about eight otters. the giant river otter is known as a heavily territorial animal, to the point where it is seen aggressive to its own kind. The Giant River Otter will eat around ten percent of its body weight per day, and is known as a opportunist, preferring to hunt whatever is in abundance in its local river. But when it cannot find food in the water, it has been known to go after andaconda’s! The Giant river otter has a double layered coat, with a inner coat that is meant as its sense of warmth, and an outer guard layer that covers the inner layer. This guard layer is twice the length of the inner coat, which is about one third of an inch long. The Giant River Otter has the shortest coat of any otter on the planet. The Giant River Otter contrary to the Sea Otter does not have to groom its hair as it is extremely difficult to get foreign objects stuck in it as the hairs are tightly connected. The Giant River Otter is becoming extinct, and the total population of the otter is from 1,000 otters to 5,000. Many conservation group search for a key to saving the species, but it is hard when fishermen find them to be nuisance. The Giant River Otter is known for being an apex predator, hunting with speed and efficiency, the Giant River Otter is known to eat anything from a piranha to a even caimans. The Giant River Otter is found to be one of the most dangerous water dwelling creatures in the Guianas, where the locals have given it the name “river wolf”. |