- There are two subspecies of sea otters, the northern and the southern. The northern version is larger, with some males recorded as weighing over 100 pounds, with the average between 70 and 90 pounds. Sea otters can reach 4.5 feet in length and live as long as 15 to 20 years in the wild. Capable of diving as deep as 330 feet in search of food, the sea otter spends most of its life in the water and is not comfortable on land.
- The typical sea otter has its choice of almost 50 types of marine species when it comes time to eat. Mussels, crabs, snails and sea urchins are among the creatures the sea otter will dive down and capture. The animal has the ability to lie on its back as it floats in the water and uses a rock with its paws to crack open the hard shells of some of this sea life to get at the tender meat inside. The sea otter will consume a quarter of its own body weight each day in food.
- There are anywhere from a quarter million to one million hairs on every square inch of a sea otter. The mammal needs this protection since it lacks any blubber that protects most mammals that live in an ocean environment. The pelt is comprised of hairs an inch long that vary between brown and black. The older sea otters will frequently have a silver hue to the hair on their heads, making them look almost human. The hair traps air and helps the animal keep its body temperature constant. The sea otter spends up to three hours every day licking and preening its fur to ensure it is clean. If the otter encounters something such as an oil spill that mats its hair down it will perish from losing its body heat. The Exxon Valdez oil spill cost thousands of sea otters their lives off Alaska's coast.
- In 1742, Vitus Bering led an expedition from Russia to Alaska and brought sea otter furs back, an event that had dire consequences for the species. The quality of the pelts and high price these furs fetched led to Russian settlements in Alaska based on the hunting of sea otters. The sale of Alaska in 1867 to the United States opened up the area to American fur traders and further decimated the sea otters' numbers. Only when hunting the creatures was not profitable due to their scarcity did the animal receive protection from the Fur Seal Treaty of 1911.
- The sea otter will mate at any time of the year and the females can bear young during any season. A single pup is the norm and the mother takes great care of its baby, only leaving it to find food. The sea otter youngster will actually ride on the mother's chest while sleeping. By the time it is weaned off its mother's milk the baby will have gained as much as 25 pounds from its 5-pound birth weight.
