Nature Facts
Sea Otter
“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.”
The Bible talks about counting hairs. In fact, the Bible says that all of our hairs are numbered. That means that God not only counts every hair, but He also assigns a number to each one of them. Since most people have about 100,000 hairs on their heads, that makes for an enormous amount of hair to keep track of!
You are so important to God that He actually knows which one of your hairs is numbered 1, which is numbered 2, 3, 4, 5 and so on . . . up to the very last hair on your head. Never forget that you are special, that God loves you more than you could ever know, and He can’t wait to spend eternity with you in Heaven!
Sea Otter Facts:
Habitat: Northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean
Lifespan: 10-15 years on average, but some have lived to be 20.
- An otter is one of the few species that use tools. They will use rocks to open food like clams, sea urchins and crabs.
- Their nickname is the “sea beaver.”
- They keep warm because of their incredibly dense fur–with up to nearly 1,000,000 (one million) hairs per square inch!
- A sea otter’s fur has long, waterproof guard hairs and short underfur; the guard hairs keep the dense underfur layer dry.
- They spend a lot of time grooming! Cleaning, untangling, removing loose fur, squeezing water out and blow drying!
- A group of otters is called a “raft.”
- Otters will often hold hands to keep from drifting away from one another.
- They live up to about 15 years.
Take a close look at all that fur! This sea otter pup is catching some zzz on the water. Sea otters have a larger lung capacity. With the larger lungs and the super dense fur they have no problem staying afloat.
An otter “pup” will be carried on his mom’s chest while she floats to protect them from the cold water. Otter pups cannot dive underwater as they are born with a special “lifejacket” coat, which they lose when they are two months old.
Otters like to hang around kelp beds. So do sea urchins. Sea urchins destroy the kelp–but sea urchins are one of the otter’s favorite foods. They help protect the kelp.
