Transcript
Uncle B
(Singing) If you have an urgin’ for an urchin, your teeth you’ll be besmirchin’, you really otter know that it’s quite true...And though you have no blubber, you stay warm ‘cause of your mother...
Louis
What? Are you seriously rhyming mother with blubber?
Uncle B
Artistic license.
Louis
I’m sorry, that’s just lazy song writing, Uncle B.
Amelia
I have to agree.
Uncle B
What?
Nelson
Yeah, me too.
Uncle B
Geez! Everybody’s a critic.
Amelia
What are you writing about anyway?
Uncle B
Here’s a hint: they’re the hairiest creatures here on earth.
Louis
Lions?
Nelson
Wooly mammoths?
Amelia
Wolverine?
Uncle B
Oh, you animals. (Singing) They hold their mama’s hand, and hardly ever set foot on land, and here’s a bunch of interesting stuff you otter know. Most marine mammals have a layer of blubber to keep them warm. But sea otters don’t have any blubber, so they rely on their fur to keep them warm. With as many as one million hairs per square inch on their bodies, sea otters have the thickest fur of any animal on earth. By comparison, the average human has about 2,200 hairs per square inch. That means for every one hair on your head, a sea otter has more than 450! And a word to wise, never go in against an otter in an eating competition. To survive in their cold water environments, sea otters have a very high metabolism, which means they need to eat somewhere between 25 and 38% of their body weight every single day. By comparison, the average American eats about 2.2% of their body weight daily. Sea otters have a pouch under each forearm that stretches across their chest, where they can store food and rocks and bring them back to the surface. Sea otters particularly like sea urchins, which have been known to turn their teeth – and even their bones – purple from eating so many. Sea otters eat while floating on their backs, and often use rocks to hammer open hard shells – making them one of the very few mammals to use tools. While sea otters forage for food alone, they rest in larger groups called “rafts.” Rafts are made up of single sex groups and usually have somewhere between 10 and 100 members – although rafts as large as 2,000 have been observed! To protect themselves from drifting away and being eaten by predators, they will often hold hands.
Nelson
Ahhhh....
Uncle B
They are also known to wrap themselves and their young in kelp to keep from floating away.
Amelia
That’s so cute!
Uncle B
(Singing) They really are quite astounding....
Amelia, Nelson and Louis
...and there numbers are rebounding.
Uncle B
(Singing) These are some things you otter know!
Most marine mammals have a layer of blubber to keep them warm, but sea otters don’t, so they rely on their fur to keep them warm.
The sea otter is the furriest creature on Earth with up to one million hairs per square inch on their bodies.
Sea otters have a very high metabolism, which means they need to eat somewhere between 25 and 38% of their body weight every single day. By comparison, the average American eats about 2.2% of their body weight daily.
Sea otters particularly like sea urchins, which have been known to turn their teeth – and even their bones – purple from eating so many.
Sea otters eat while floating on their backs, and often use rocks to hammer open hard shells – making them one of the very few mammals to use tools.
Sea otters rest in larger groups called “rafts” which are made up of single gender groups and usually have somewhere between 10 and 100 members.
To prevent their young from floating away, they will hold hands or wrap them in kelp.
Sea otters were once close to extinction due to hunting, but after the commercial trade was banned in 1911 their numbers have rebounded.
