014 / / JANUARY 2017
hile many animals give birth to their young
in spring, sea otters are often born in the
depths of winter. If that were not a chilly
enough introduction to the world, the single
pup is born at sea, where it will remain for most of its life.
Remarkably, the pup cannot swim or dive until it is three or
four months old, so it will spend its early life balanced on its
mother’s chest. When away foraging, the devoted mother
will wrap her pup in kelp to keep it from floating away.
Sea otters live in offshore forests of this giant kelp, and
they eat, sleep and groom on the water’s surface. The adults
congregate in single-sex groups called rafts, sometimes
linking themselves together. They are found in two areas
of the world: the Pacific coast of Russia and Alaska, and
along the central Californian coast. January and February
are the best times to see the new mothers here, lounging
on the chilly coastal waters of Monterey Bay.Come springtime, when food is abundant, the young otter
will have grown its adult coat – the densest fur in the animal
kingdom with up to a million hairs per square inch – and be
ready to fend for itself. It was for this thick pelt that sea otters
were hunted almost to extinction in the early 20th century,
and though there are now 3,000 in California alone, and they
are legally protected, the species remains endangered.
But with its water-repellant fur, webbed feet and a lung
capacity more than twice that of a similar–sized land
mammal (it can dive to more than 90m, holding its breath for
anything up to five minutes), the sea otter is perfectly adapted
to its life on the ocean waves. What’s more, it’s the only
marine mammal that catches fish with its forepaws. But
perhaps the sea otter’s most amazing talent is that it can use
rocks as tools to break open the shells of the molluscs that it
eats. It keeps these tools in a handy pocket of skin on its
chest, which it also uses as a food store. Otterly ingenious!W
You might think being born at sea in winter is something of a disadvantage when
you can’t swim, but the sea otter’s mother has that covered – she keeps her young
safe and dry on her belly, then wraps it in kelp when she goes to find foodWords: Yashi Banymadhub. Photograph: Alamy