The heaviest member of the weasel family, and one of the few mammals that use tools: it cracks shellfish open with rocks. Unlike most marine mammals it stays warm with fur, the densest in the animal kingdom, not blubber.
Quick answers
What is it?Mammal
Carnivore?Yes
Dangerous?No
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Daytime
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?No
At a glance
Found inOceans
HabitatCoast, Open ocean
ColoursBrown, Grey
SizeMedium
Length1–1.5 m
Weight14–45 kg
Legs4
Covered inFur
Lives ingroups
Lives for15–20 years
Can swim
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific.
- What it eats
- Mostly sea urchins, molluscs, crustaceans and some fish. By eating urchins, it protects kelp forests.
- Conservation
- Endangered (IUCN Red List)
Did you know
Wraps itself in kelp so it won't drift off while it rests.
A loose pouch of skin under each foreleg holds the food it has collected.
Often confused with
- Otter
A sea otter lives entirely at sea and has a short tail. All other otters have long, muscular tails.
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