Sea Otters Research Paper

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One of the most affectionate and loving sea mammals is the sea otter. When most people think of an otter they think of the cute, furry animals at the zoo with clams. However, most otters live at sea, and rarely are they on land. They have learned to avoid coming on land because of hunters and other threats to them. Sea otters eat a variety of different foods, take care of their young, and have many threats to their kind.
First, sea otters eat a variety of different foods. John A. Love (1992, x) explains in his book, Sea Otters, that since they spend most of their lives at sea, they eat mostly invertebrates that come from the ocean. This includes sea urchins, shellfish, mussels, abalones, limpets, scallops, annelid worms, crabs, fish, fish eggs, and octopuses. According to Love (1992, 76) one of their favorite foods are urchins which provide many different health benefits. In order to eat the food they catch, otters perform a specific process of eating. While they are in the water, otters will lie on their backs and hold a rock to hit mussels against. Also, they have loose flaps of skin under their arms, which they utilize to store food that …show more content…
Otters can live their lives at sea without ever being on land, even when giving birth. When otters give birth, it is almost always in the water. For this reason, births of otters are almost never witnessed. Also, only one cub is almost always born at once. It is very uncommon for otters to have twins. Also, mothers are very protective of their young. They are very watchful of their cubs ,and do not even allow them to drift even a yard away from their side.(p.56) According to Love (1992, 58), "Sea otter mothers have been known to carry a dead pup for days before finally discarding it." Love (1992, 58) records that "When they sleep at sea they fold their young in their arms, just as human mothers do their babies.... They embrace their young with an affection that is scarcely

Sea Otters Research Paper

Two keystone examples of keystone species are sea otters in the Pacific Northwest, and elephants in in Tanzania. The sea otters in the Pacific Northwest and feed predominantly on sea urchins. The population of the sea urchins is almost entirely controlled by the sea otters. Therefore, were the sea urchins not being eaten by the otters, the population of sea urchins would grow dramatically larger. Sea urchins feed mainly on a large species of algae called kelp. Kelp grows into what are known as a…

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Sea Otters Research Paper

webbed feet, and is part of the weasel family? A SEA OTTER!! The diet consists of Sea urchins, Abalone, crabs, etc. This species has two species: river otters and sea otters. The appearance of this weasel has brown fur, long body, heavy, and strong muscles. The habitat is on mostly on water and they very rarely go on lan0.d. They have 6-8 young pups as part of their reproduction. Interesting and acrobatic the otter’s, diet, the two species, the sea otter appearance, habitat, and reproduction abilities…

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Sea Otter Research Paper

Have you ever wanted to keep something so much that you genetically modified yourself? Neither have I, but the Sea Otter has. Besides having a very convenient arm pouch, the sea otter has a plethora of other special and unique features, which we will dive into later. *Sea otter sounds here* The sea otter, or Enhydra Lutris, is the smallest of marine mammals, weighing between 31 to 73 pounds for a female, and 49 to 99 pounds for a male. Their weight doesn’t come from copious amounts of blubber or…

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Sea Otter Research Paper

it has been found that the Sea Otter was isolated in the North Pacific about 2 million years ago, which resulted in the now-extinct Enhydra macrodonta and the modern sea otter. The sea otter originally became in northern Hokkaidō and Russia, and then it moved east to the Aleutian Islands, mainland Alaska, and down the North American coast. What are some shared and non-shared traits between the Sea Otter, American Mink, and Striped Polecat? Non-shared traits: Otters are the only amphibious mustelids…

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Sea Otters Research Paper

are a rising issue in Canada, and extinction is happening at a higher rate than ever historically documented (“Why do Animals and Plants become Endangered?”). Habitat loss is a massive contributor to the loss of endangered species. Bumble bees and sea otter are currently, or were, at risk of extinction. To begin, habitat loss is one of the main contributors to endangered animals. An example of habitat loss is turning forests into farmland. According to the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife…

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Assignment 1 What S Your Major Essay

known as a Coastal City but I still knew little of it. However, I did have an opening into the ocean and it was looking through a very thick pane of glass, at the Texas State Aquarium to be precise over in my home town of Corpus Christi, TX. Dolphins, Otters, moon jellies and cow-nose stingrays were all members of a microcosm of the ocean that unfolded right before my eyes in our aquarium. I remember staying behind from the rest of the class and would spend hours walking around the exhibits of these fascinating…

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Exxon Valdez Oil Spill and et Al. Essay

providing a route of entry into many food chains. The subsurface grains of stream banks harbored the oil, exposing and killing salmon embryos (Peterson CH, et al., 2003). Chronic exposure to the oil persisting in the sediments were evident in fish, sea otters, and seaducks, all who rely on the sediments for…

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Student: Waste and Population Size Essay

many other species in an ecosystem The classic tale of a keystone species is that of the sea otter, which was once found in abundance along the West Coast of North America. European and Russian trappers hunt sea otters to near extinction in the 18th and 19th centuries. The decline of the sea otters, which are essential to keeping sea urchins in check, allows sea urchin populations to explode. The sea urchins feast on and decimate the kelp beds, which are critical habitat for spawning fish…

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Essay about Water and Habitable Planet Unit

A.P. Environmental Science Syllabus 2009-2010 General scope and sequence for the course |Unit |Topic |Relevant Text Chapters | |1 |Sound Science, Stewardship and Sustainability |1, 22 | |2 |Ecosystems and Biogeochemical Cycles |2, 3, 4…

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Behavioral Ecology And Archaeology

Behavioral Ecology and Archaeology Author(s): Douglas W. Bird and James F. O'Connell Source: Journal of Archaeological Research, Vol. 14, No. 2 (June 2006), pp. 143-188 Published by: Springer Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41053227 . Accessed: 03/03/2014 13:57 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers…

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