Sea otters eat about 25% of their weight every day, and is arguably the number one cause in sea otter deaths, when they cannot forage enough food… Estes estimates a single killer whale will have to eat 1,825 otters … The food sea otters eat can impact the entire ecosystem in which they live. Yes they do eat sea turtles as well as fish, sea-birds, penguins, seals, squid, otters, and walruses. You can see them close to shore almost any time of year! Sea lions and seals are some of the smartest creatures around, and their energy and curiosity mean that caretakers at Smithsonian's National Zoo have to stay on their toes to keep them stimulated. Otters weigh 35-90 pounds (males weigh more than females). Predators and Prey of the Sea Otter The sea otter's diet includes about 40 marine species, including urchins, crabs, clams, abalones, mussels, and snails. Sea otters can move faster when they need to, whether they are hunting or escaping predators. Some of them probably male. Even those traditionally seen as completely adorable. ... Sea lion cancer. Here are some tips to help you tell them apart. Sea lions consume large quantities of food at a time and are known to eat about 5–8% of their body weight (about 6.8–15.9 kg (15–35 lb)) at a single feeding. The otter is much smaller than the sea lions and seals so the killer whales must eat more to get the same nourishment. Those baby otters will grow into adult otters. The young otters are hunted by sharks, predatory seabirds and animals. So, a 50-pound otter would need to eat about 10-15 pounds of food per day. Humans do not usually eat sea otters and generally kill them by accident. (Trites and Donnelly, 2003) Table 4 compares the nutritional value of fish that are both eaten by sea lions and harvested by fishermen. The sea otter and pup rolled violently in the water for approximately 15 min, while the pup struggled to free itself from the sea otter’s grasp. How to tell them apart. The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is one of the best places in the world to see seals, sea lions and sea otters. Unlike other otters, having a soft undercoat, sea otters possess fur with thick hard hair. A California sea lion's primary means of communication is vocalization. Four species are commonly seen within the sanctuary. And while the otters in the video happen to be river otters, if adult male river otters are anything at all like adult male sea otters, they should be kept away from all other animals at any cost. The largest sea lion is Steller's sea lion, which can weigh 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) and grow to a length of 3.0 m (10 ft). Animals can be GIANT JERKS. Finally, the sea otter positioned itself dorsal to the pup’s smaller body while grasping it by the head and holding it underwater in a position typical of mating sea otters. The spread of disease among otters, manatees and sea lions could be an early warning to humans. Steller sea lions eat a wide range of fish, but also consume cephalopods, crustaceans, birds and occasionally other pinnipeds. California sea lions are among the most vocal of all mammals. Posted on April 6, 2012 by thewanderingalligator. They do this by taking advantage of the shape and musculature of their bodies, which allows them to undulate up and down and aerodynamically cut through the water. Humans also kill sea otters when they use fishing gear that traps the otter or hit the otter with boats. As he lunged forward, he bit into the leg of another sea otter and clamped down hard. Can the cause for sea lion population decline correlate with the sea otter decline? Sea otters eat about 20-30% of their body weight each day. Otters. Otters are eaten by large predators, such as great white sharks, killer whales, bears, sea lions, eagles and coyotes, depending on their geographical location. Some species of seals and sea lions apparently do drink seawater at least occasionally, as do common dolphins and sea otters, but the practice is very rare in some other species. How do the time periods for the population declines relate to one another? Their prey is searched for by sea otters, diving to depth, emerging every 30-40 seconds to swallow air. seal, sea lion, or sea otter: how can you tell? 2. Sea Otters find sea urchins on the ocean floor and break it open with a rock. Swimming underwater, sea otters can swim at speeds exceeding 5 mph. It will then eat everything except the spines (the insides). And here's just some of the messed up things that the jerkiest of them have been known to do. Also the enemy is a man. ... Then listen up, folks, so that next time someone calls a sea lion an otter, you can assert your pinniped-mustelid knowledge and sound like the smartest guy on the block– er, beach. The body is dense, cylindrical, oblong, and the paws are short and strong. Analysis of sea lion feces has indicated that the major prey species during the 1990s were walleye pollock, Atka mackerel, salmon, Pacific cod, herring, arrowtooth flounder, cephalopods, rockfish and sandlance.