Did you know? Here are 5 fun & easy to remember facts about sea otters.

Fact1: Sea otters have incredibly fast metabolisms; a 60-pound adult sea otter eats at least 15 pounds of food (25% of its body weight) each and every day. That’s the same as an average teenager eating 120 hamburgers.

Fact2: Weighing between 30 and 100 pounds, the sea otter is the world’s smallest species of marine mammal.

Fact3: Unlike other marine mammals, they do not have a layer of blubber to help them keep warm. Instead, sea otters have the densest fur in the animal kingdom, ranging from 250,000 to a million hairs per square inch, which insulates them.

Fact4: Sea otters indirectly help to reduce levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, a prevalent greenhouse gas, as kelp forests play an important role in capturing carbon in coastal ecosystems.

Fact5: The sea otter lifespan is 10-15 years for males; 15-20 years for females.

 

Bonus Fact: In the U.S., there are two distinct sea otter subspecies, the Northern sea otter (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) and the Southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis). Northern sea otters are found in the Aleutian Islands, Southern Alaska, British Columbia, and Washington. Southern sea otters, also known as California sea otters, live in the waters along the California coastline and range from San Mateo County in the north to Santa Barbara County in the south.