Sea Otter Fact Sheet

Sea otters are a marine mammal thatmostly live in the North Pacific Ocean.They are part of the mustelidae familyof animals, which includes weasels,badgers and minks. They are able towalk on land, but can live completelyin the ocean if they so choose.

Sea otters mostly eat invertebrates;invertebrates are animals withoutspines. This includes molluscs,crustaceans and sea urchins. In fact,sea otters actually help control the seaurchin population by eating so many ofthem. Sea otters are called a keystone species, because they are so importantto the ocean's food chain.

Sea otters have a thick, dense, and waterproof coat. Their coat has almost amillion hairs per square inch! Because of this, they do not need a layer ofblubber to stay warm. They are also able to use rocks as tools to open shellsand get at their food. Not many animals are able to do this. Sea otters areendangered because of oil spills and the fact that they are hunted for their fur.

Word Search

ACROSS4 Babies have ______ hair so they are able to float8 No spine.9 They are endangered because of ___ spills.10 They are related to this ground dwelling mammal.

DOWN1 They are some of the only animals to use these.

(Hint: we use them too!)2 They are part of this animal family.3 They are a ________ species, because they eat

so many sea urchins.5 Their abundance of fur makes it so they do not

need this.6 They live mostly in this ocean.7 Their ______ feet help them swim.