Page 136 - (DK) Super Shark Encyclopedia: And Other Creatures of the Deep

SHELLFISH FLOATING FEAST
It is tough dealing with a crab
lunch when you are lying on
SMASHER your back in the water. But sea
otters are nicely buoyant—and
can even wrap themselves in
seaweed to stop themselves
from floating off too far.
SEA OTTER

It can be tricky to break the hard shell of a mussel or
a crab. For a hungry sea otter, a small rock is the perfect
tool for smashing through to reach the meat. When it finds
a shellfish, a sea otter lies on its back with its dinner on
its belly. Then, grasping the rock in its front paws, it
bangs hard until the shell cracks. This works so well that
some otters even carry a rock around with them under a
special flap of skin in their armpit. A life spent fishing for
seafood is a cold one and the sea otter keeps warm with
a thick coat—the densest coat of any mammal.

AT A GLANCE

• SIZE Head and body 3¼–4 ft (1–1.2 m)
long; tail 10–14½ in (25–37 cm) long
• HABITAT Shoreline and shallow ocean
waters within 0.6 miles (1 km) of coast
• LOCATION Northeastern Russia and
western coastal North America
• DIET Slow-swimming fish, sea urchins,
crabs, and mollusks

STATS AND FACTS
21
MAXIMUM FORAGING DEPTH

HOURS
ft 100 200 TIME SPENT FORAGING PER DAY “Some sea
m 30 60 90
177 ft/54 m 270 ft/82 m otters even have
(for females) (for males)
NO. OF BLOWS
a favorite
6–88 (to open a mussel)
DIVES THAT USE TOOLS
0 25 50 75 100 UP TO rock”
21
36 (average)

PERCENT

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