Enhydra lutris, commonly known as the Sea Otter is an aquatic mammal that has captured all our hearts and unfortunately is also getting captured in fishing nets.
The Sea Otter who is a carnivore has a long, stout body with a broad head and snout. To add to the adorable nature of this animal, it has thick whiskers on its cheeks. Its body is covered in dense fur that must be groomed for proper insulation and overall cleanliness.
Interestingly, otters usually spend 10% of their time grooming their fur.
The other time is spent by foraging for food like sea urchins, snails, clams, fish, barnacles, octopus and other sea creatures as it has to eat 20-25% of its body weight every singly day to maintain normal body temperature.
They have small forepaws with retractable claws to eat, groom, and hold prey. Its webbed hind feet are well adapted for swimming and it has flattened molars for mechanical digestion of shelled and invertebrate prey.
As cute and well adapted this otter is, it is also Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and its population averages around 3000 individuals only. The threats harming their existence include entanglement in fishing nets, oil spill, and predation too. In the early 20th century, it was almost hunted to extinction for its prized pelt. We as humans must try our best to conserve otters commonly known as sea dogs because of their friendly behavior. If you are a fisherman in California, use sustainable fishing practices to avoid hurting sea otters and the process of oil transportation definitely can be made more effective or eliminated altogether by switching to more sustainable forms of energy. It is our responsibility as inhabitants of Earth to conserve the other inhabitants of this planet.
Written by Nandini Saluja and Art by Simar Bhogal
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