Scientific name:
Enhydra lutis

Natural spread:
northern hemisphere

the sea-otter is the second-biggest representative of the martens with its head-torso-length of 120-130 cm as well as a tail-length of approximately 30 cm (after the wolverine), although this also is here said applicable to the giant-otter. Through its clumsier physique with the short, easily ladle-nicely leveled off tail, the short hand and this crawl-nicely to the back moved hind legs with swimming-skins of connected toes resembles the Kalan externally very much the ear-seals. The small eyes and the tiny ear-mussels and not least the walk ponderous at the country reinforce this impression.

Locomotion However, the locomotion is all the nimble in the water: At the surface, head and shoulders stick out from the water when swimming, and the animal propels itself fast with powerful pushes of its hind leg. When diving, its movement-manner of this of the seals and the giant-otter is similar. With aimed legs, it glides under Schlängelbewegungen of the whole body onward. However, the dearest activity of the sea-otter is the motionless Sichtreibenlassen on the water-surface. Not rarely, one sees these water-martens in large groups with the stomach in flat upward or dense with wing-seaweed of over grown waters itself only the sun gives up.

Nutrition The sea-otters take a bulk of its food in the back-situation to itself. they are the single mammals, who like to live from Stachelhäutern, in fact from urchins. Kalane dive usually 20-40 m deep in order to get all at once themselves up to one dozen urchins at the water-surface occasionally. Since its reddish-brown one hangs very loosely at the body until ebony fur, it forms skin folds, in which the sea-otter can store the brought urchins at the water-surface, in the back-situation at the side without it dropping them again into the depth. Little by little the otter now consumes its loot by first having taken away the thorns of the urchin through mehrmaliges of turning around in its paws. Thereupon, it presses in the peel at the low pole and bites off the edge, about subsequent the content of the upper peel-part auszulecken. However, the sea-otter consumes also mussels, cancers and fish beside it and, contrary to former opinions, only to approximately 1 percent of seaweed. it always eats also this food at the water-surface and in the back-situation. it moves hard peels of its loot-animals with a stone to body, that it handles skillfully as tools.

Way of life Sea-otters live sociably, probably in polygamous family-groups. They usually spend the day in not too blustery weather on the water. At night and over rough sea, they linger at country in the protection of a trodden down pit, that not far from from the water in the shadow of a big stone or similar aimed and by excrement is marked. They like to also be in the often very densely not at the shore lain Blattangfeldern in very quiet summer-nights.

Reproduction As very much the sea-otter is tried on also at the life in the water, so however the place, where it brings its boys to the world, betrays its origin as pure country-carnivore. The combination still takes place in the water, in fact in the tummy quite uncommon for the mammals to stomach-position, in which the animals embrace themselves formally; this comes normally only a young on the country, at a protected place in bare rock or in the snow, to the world, on the other hand after a Tragzeit of probably 8-9 months. The young already is quite well developed in its birth, in accordance with its mother's habitat. its eyes are opened, all milk-teeth existing, and the body is covered by a dense, tan fur.

The young is although it immediately is taken by the mother into the water as well, first not yet in the situation, to swim, independently. the mother attaches importance it carefully to its breast, on which the young begins to frolic soon, with its front-paws. It also makes short trips for the water from here and tries to dive. With danger, the mother dives together with its boy and can remain under water at most 5 minutes. If the Fähe goes at food-catch, it leaves behind its young adrift at the water-surface. When suckling, the mother goes not only in the water but also at country into the uncommon back-situation.

Continuance and protection The spread-area of the sea-otter clearly shows the drama of the continuance-development of this marten. Originally on the islands of the Bering-sea and the northern silence of ocean quite widespread, the sea-otter was brought by the human being by the prosecution at the edge of the total extermination until approximately to the year 1910. Only some few hides living populations survived. in 1911, Russia, England, the USA and Japan finally decided the protection of the sea-otter, whose catch now was prohibited completely in some areas, in the Bering-sea-contract. So the continuances could themselves on the Kurilen in up-to-the-minute minute, stabilize before Kamtschatka, the Aleutian islands and some islands before the southwest-Canadian coast south and get until today. Another marten could be saved from the extinction with it after the sable. This is all the more valuable for the animal-protection since breeding-attempts remained unsuccessful in captivity until now and also new-naturalization-attempts in areas with similar life-conditions, as they predominate in the original spread-area of the Kalans, no success zeitigten. The success of the conservation-attempts showed that common efforts of as many as possible involved states can protect a type of animal from going out also already in almost hopeless cases.