Image courtesy of Jim Curland
|
|
|
Image courtesy of Jim Curland |
|
Sea otters live in the Pacific Ocean. Sea otter habitats range from
the Soviet Union to California. (Davis, et.al, 1998) The water temperatures
in these areas range from 21 degrees C to 38 degrees C below their core
body temperature of 39 degrees C.
Sea otters generally live in fairly shallow waters, the deepest waters being 40m . Their habitat is composed of the sea floor where they catch food and the sea surface where they eat, groom, rest and socialize. Sea otters will frequently live in areas which have kelp beds. They will raft in the kelp bed canopies. (Bodkin and Ballachy, 1997) Sea otters have developed good thermoregulatory adaptations to compensate for heat loss in their cold, marine environment. (Davis, et.al, 1998) |
 Sea otters in kelp courtesy of Jimmy Hu |
|
other physiological adaptations oil spills and sea otters references |