It’s not hard to drum up love for sea otters with their furry little paws, inquisitive expressions, and playful demeanor. But despite the attention and money lavished on this marine mammal, they still have a long way to go. Campaigns such as the current Sea Otter Awareness Week—which runs from September 20 to 26—aim to […]
Tag: Sea Otter
Why would anyone want to shoot a sea otter?
Every time he hunts, Peter Williams sends a silent message to his prey before he squeezes the trigger: “Please give me your life. I’ll eat some of your meat, and I’ll make something beautiful out of your hide.” On a cold afternoon in mid-January, Williams, who is 33, was kneeling on the barnacle- and birdshit-encrusted […]
Unique new book provides further insights into the world of the elusive otter
The first book providing spectacular photographs and an insight into the lives and behaviour of ALL 13 species of otters has now been launched. It contains detailed information about the magnificent Giant Otter of the Amazon, the tiny Asian Small-Clawed Otter so often found in zoos, the Sea Otter with its charming habits of cracking […]
Orphaned Baby Sea Otter Learns to Float: Explaining Viral Video
Just as it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a team of animal experts to raise an orphaned sea otter. A baby southern sea otter named Pup 681 has made a splash online since a video of her squealing, squirming, and learning to swim at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium went up on YouTube. […]
Why Sea Otters Hold Hands & Wrap Pups in Seaweed
Sea otters cannot even swim on their own when they are born. In the wild, a mother otter takes her pup everywhere to protect and educate her baby. Birth usually takes place in the water and typically produces a single pup weighing 1.4 to 2.3 kg (3 to 5 lb). Twins occur in 2% of […]
Over 75 percent of large predators declining
The world’s top carnivores are in big trouble: this is the take-away message from a new review paper published today in Science. Looking at 31 large-bodied carnivore species (i.e those over 15 kilograms or 33 pounds), the researchers found that 77 percent are in decline and more than half have seen their historical ranges decline […]
Should Alaskan sea otters be kept on the endangered species list?
Alaska Representative Donald Young has introduced a bill to restart the fur trade of northern sea otters. Bill (H.R. 2714), seeks To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to allow the transport, purchase, and sale of pelts of, and handicrafts, garments, and art produced from, Southcentral and Southeast Alaska northern sea otters. The International […]
Mammals of Eastern Hokkaido
During our time in Eastern Hokkaido we saw quite a few terrestrial and marine mammals, and managed to get some photos of a couple.
