While
visiting the beautiful city of San Francisco
earlier this summer I made a side trip down the coast to Monterey. Read part one of my review of the
excellent Monterey Bay Aquarium. Today, I’m going to continue my
review by showcasing one of my favorite animal encounters ever, both in captivity and
in the wild.
What do sea otters eat? Sea otters eat sea urchins and other mollusks and crustaceans. This includes clams, snails, sea stars, sea urchins, squid, and octopuses. How would you like to eat sea otter food? They can hold their breath for up to five minutes, allowing a long dive to the ocean floor to hunt for food. They use rocks as tools to crack open prey.
Read my review on the rest of the exhibits at the MontereyBay Aquarium.
The main attractions of the Monterey Bay Aquarium are the
sea otters which can be seen in captivity inside the aquarium and in the wild
from the observation decks outside the aquarium. I was initially shocked at how
big the sea otters are up close. I had seen river otters and Asian small clawed
otters at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium but they are tiny in comparison. Here
are a few facts about sea otters as well as my sea otter pictures.
Sea otters don’t rely on blubber to survive the frigid
waters of the Pacific Ocean like other
mammals. Instead, they have the densest fur of any animal on the planet. I’d
love to feel sea otter fur. Sea otters can live their entire life without leaving
the water. Did you know sea otters live in groups called rafts?
What do sea otters eat? Sea otters eat sea urchins and other mollusks and crustaceans. This includes clams, snails, sea stars, sea urchins, squid, and octopuses. How would you like to eat sea otter food? They can hold their breath for up to five minutes, allowing a long dive to the ocean floor to hunt for food. They use rocks as tools to crack open prey.
Where do sea otters live? The otters seen from the decks of
the Monterey Bay Aquarium are called southern or
California
sea otters. Sea otters are an endangered species. One ill-timed oil spill could
essentially wipe out the entire Monterey
Bay sea otter population.
To see the otters up close you can kayak out into the calm waters of the bay,
which I would LOVE to go back and do.
Embedded below is my Monterey Bay Aquarium montage video,
featuring scenes with the sea otters inside as well as out in the bay. Sorry
for some of the shaky footage. Enjoy!
Read my review on the rest of the exhibits at the MontereyBay Aquarium.
A well-written and informative article. Thanks for sharing such details about sea otters.
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