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California Sea Otter
Enhydra lutris nereis
36.5018, -121.938
Field Notes
Description:
Extremely dense waterproof long outer fur and dense short under fur and thick muscular tail. Body is streamlined and flexible. Hind feet are long, flattened and webbed. The front feet are short with retractable claws and thick pads for gripping. It may come on land but spends most of it's time in the water and you may see it mostly floating on it's back. It's buoyancy helps when it is sleeping or eating. It has loose skin to make a pouch under it's foreleg to across the chest to use for storing food or a rock. The rock is used as a tool to open some of the crustaceans it feeds on. After it eats it will roll in the water to clean the crumbs off.
They can form rafts of same sex, and to keep from drifting they will wrap themselves with kelp or hold paws.
Habitat:
Along the central coast of California in kelp forests.
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