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 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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Assignment 1 What S Your Major Essay

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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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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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substances or energy into the marine environment (including estuaries) resulting in such deleterious effects as harm to living resources, hazards to human health, hinderance to marine activities, including fishing, impairment of quality for use of sea water and reduction of amenities." Fortunately, Earth is forgiving and damage from water pollution is often reversible. Photo: Pollution means adding substances to the environment that don't belong there—like the air pollution from this smokestack…

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