Endless Ocean

Sea Otters Part 3

When sea otters are in a hurry, they swim underwater. They pump their bodies up and down pushing hard with their hundredths to move themselves forward. To get around at the surface, sea otters swim on their backs. Usually they kick their hind feet out to the sides, but sometimes they just swish their tail back and forth without using the feet at all.
If you look closely at a sea otter's hind foot, you will see that the outside toe is the smallest - just the opposite of our toes! For otters, this makes sense. With a larger otter, an otter can spread its hind feet wider for swimming.
Their forepaws are very sensitive. They have claws - much like a cat's - that they can push out and pull in at will. They also have tough pads on their paws to help them grip slippery fish, and pick up prickly sea urchins. Inside the paws, they have five individual fingers, much like our fingers.

What to know how a sea otter's paw works. Pull a sock over whichever hand you right with and try writing on a piece of paper. See how well you can control the pencil even though your thumb and fingers are covered. In this same way otters can manipulate objects, even though its paw is covered in mitten-like skin
Sea otters have strong jawbones, rounded teeth to help them crush the hard shells of clams, crabs, mussels, abalone, and sea urchins. Big lower teeth called incisors are used to scoop the meat out of the shells. They also have extremely flexible spines. This also them to bend their bodies backward and forward in a complete circle. A flexible spine also enables a sea otter to reach every inch of its body when cleaning its fur.

Keeping their fur clean - or grooming - is a matter of life and death to sea otters. They are the only marine mammals that don't Java a layer of fat, or blubber, to keep them warm in the cold ocean. Instead they depend on their furry coats for warmth.

Sea otters have the thickest fur of any animal in the world. In fact, some otters have as many as a billon hairs on their bodies. It is not the fur alone that keeps the otters warm. Air bubbles trapped at the base of the fur also protect the ocean's chill.
Because their fur is so dense, sea otters must a great deal of time each day grooming themselves. If they don't groom, their fur gets matted and can not hold air bubbles. Then the cold water can slip through to their bare skin, freezing the otter to death. By keeping themselves clean sea otters stay healthy and warm.

Want to see how sea otter's works?"
Here's a DIY project go to a room where there's a small sink and make sure to have a dry sponge with you.
Fill the with water. Then push a dry sponge underwater. Can see the bubbles coming from the sponge as it fills with water. The wet sponge doesn't float and this is what happens to a sea otter if they don't clean their coats. Not only could they potentially freeze to death they could also drown