Sea Otter Fact Sheet

Sea otters are a marine mammal that

mostly live in the North Pacific Ocean.
They are part of the mustelidae family
of animals, which includes weasels,
badgers and minks. They are able to
walk on land, but can live completely
in the ocean if they so choose.

Sea otters mostly eat invertebrates;

invertebrates are animals without
spines. This includes molluscs,
crustaceans and sea urchins. In fact,
sea otters actually help control the sea
urchin population by eating so many of
them. Sea otters are called a keystone species, because they are so important
to the ocean's food chain.

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

Word Search
ACROSS
4 Babies have ______ hair so they are able to float
8 No spine.
9 They are endangered because of ___ spills.
10 They are related to this ground dwelling mammal.

DOWN
1 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.