Research has revealed that females with 6 month old pups spend up to 14 hours a day foraging, while consuming nearly twice as much food as females with no pups. I f a resting otter is harassed and forced to dive, the animal must expend additional energy to swim away only to begin grooming all over again, which takes away precious time it would otherwise have to rest or care for its young undisturbed. The demanding maternal costs associated with pup rearing for adult female sea otters make them exceptionally vulnerable to energetic deficits - this includes the additional energy expenditure caused by harassment by humans. The harmful consequences harassment can potentially have on sea otter adult females, especially those caring for pups, is particularly concerning. Sea otter harassment and other wildlife disturbance represents more than 40 percent of all violations recorded annually in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. One large oil spill off the Central Coast of California could be catastrophic, with the potential of driving the entire southern sea otter population into extinction. The loss of thermal insulation can quickly cause the otter to die of hypothermia. In addition to the damaging physical effects of oil contamination, the toxicological effects from ingestion and inhalation can lead to severe, long-term organ damage and other potentially life threatening conditions. As the Exxon Valdez disaster made so painfully clear, the single greatest threat to sea otters is an oil spill.
Where are you now under the sea skin#
Upon exposure, crude oil rapidly penetrates the fur and destroys the air layer that is trapped next to the skin and which provides 70% of the insulating properties of the fur. Unlike most marine mammals, sea otters don’t have an insulating layer of blubber to keep them warm so they must depend on their exceptionally thick, water-resistant fur to stay warm. Sea otters are particularly vulnerable to oil contamination because oiling drastically reduces the insulating and water-repellent properties of their fur.
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