MUSTELIDAE LUTRINAE
SEA OTTER Enhydra lutris kenyoni
Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Water
1924 1936 1948 1960 1972 1984 1996 2008 2020
Forthright, tenacious, intense, meticulous, charismatic, sensitive, intellectual, industrious, charming, eloquent, sociable, artistic, shrewd. Can be manipulative, vindictive, self-destructive, envious, mendacious, venal, obstinate, critical, over-ambitious, ruthless, intolerant, scheming.
Kingdom: Anamalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Mustelidae
Subfamily: Lutrinae
Genus: Enhydra
Species: E. lutris
Binomial name: Enhydra lutris
Lifespan: The sea otters average lifespan is 10-12 years but can live up to 25 years of age.
Length and weight: The smallest marine mammal, the average adult can be as large as 5' in length and weigh up to 70lbs. The average length of an adult female is 4' and average weight
is 60 lbs. At birth, sea otters weigh approximately 5 lbs and are 10" in length.
Color: fur ranges from brown to almost black with guard hairs that may be silver, light brown or black. Their hands and necks will lighten until almost white as they age.
Fur: Sea otter fur is the finest of any mammal consisting of up to one million hairs per square inch which keeps them warm while in the water. Once their fur becomes soiled by foreign substances they loose their protective insulation. Therefore, are fastidiously groom their fur.
Behavior: Sea otters are social animals who may float tother in groups from a few to more than 100, called rafts. Typically rafts females and pups spend time in one group and males band together.
Body: Sea otters spend the majority of their life in water and have long flat tails and webbed hind feet designed for swimming. They have retractable claws on the front paws allowing them to grab food. They have round heads, small eyes, and visible ears.
Habitat: The sea otter is the largest member of the Mustelidae (weasel family) and the only one which lives almost entirely in the water.Sea otters are coastal, shallow water dwellers. They habitate both the ocean floor where they gather food and the ocean surface where they eat, groom, rest and interact socially.
Food Habits: Sea otters mainly eat benthic invertebrates such as clams, mussels, urchins, crabs, and fish. They can dive up to 250' to capture food and use rocks to open their hard-shelled prey. In order to maintain their body heat adult sea otters will eat 25 to 30 percent of their body weight per day. Feeding occurs mainly in the morning and afternoon.
Reproduction: Sea otters become sexually mature at 3 to 6 years and can have one pup per year with the pregnancy term lasting between 5 to 8 months. Most pups are born during May who remain dependent on their mothers for 5 to 12 months.
Predators: humans, sharks, bears, eagles (pups), orca
