It is illegal to keep this indigenous otter as a pet in the United States, and not advised to take it out of North America. Marine otters are most likely monogamous, which means that one male mates with one female exclusively. The geographic range is also constricted compared to pre-hunting times, and it may still disappear from some places, as poaching continues to be a problem. They can live in freshwater and coastal marine habitats, including rivers, lakes, marshes, swamps, and estuaries. Their aquatic habitats can be both marine and fresh water: streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and marshes. Marine otters are foraging predators that eat a wide variety of prey. Marine otters are found in littoral areas of southwestern South America, close to shore and in the intertidal areas of northern Peru (from the port of Chimbote), along the entire coast of Chile, and the extreme southern reaches of Argentina. They live in riparian zones, often in the same areas as beavers. The Marine otter is the smallest of the otters of the New World otters. Otters are usually found no more than a few hundred meters from water. 3. Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) are an easily recognized and beloved marine mammal. Sea otters inherit in the shallow coastal areas and prefer the places with kelp. Otters prefer to live in marshes and along wooded rivers and streams with pools and overhanging rocky banks. Most otters live in dens — built by other animals, such as beavers — that are dug into the ground that have many channels and dry inner chambers. Sign our petition to tell GrubHub to take shark fin off the menu now – before the ocean’s most iconic predators disappear. Most species are entirely dependent on aquatic habitats for food. The young remain with their mother for about ten months. Unlike most marine mammals that rely on a thick layer of blubber to insulate them from cold ocean waters, marine otters rely on their extremely thick fur. A great way to get involved in protecting #oceans: Join Oceana as a Wavemaker & sound off on important issues! Sailors for the Sea developed the KELP (Kids Environmental Lesson Plans) program to create the next generation of ocean stewards. They are marine mammals, existing almost exclusively in … It lives along South America’s Pacific coast. The Marine otter lives along the Pacific Ocean’s coast, from northern Peru to the Isla de Los Estados, Argentina and Cape Horn, Chile. Sign up today to get weekly updates and action alerts from Oceana. Though they both live in the marine environment, marine otters are more closely related to the three species of American river otters than to the sea otter, indicating that the coastal/marine lifestyle evolved twice in the weasel family. Some are almost exclusively aquatic, like the sea otters that live in the Pacific ocean, and some spend more than half their time on land, like the giant otter that lives in the tropical rain-forests of South America. Let’s take a look at the Eurasian … Chilean sea otter, Patagonian otter, Sea cat, South American sea otter, Otter cat, Gato Marino. Sea otters live in the Pacific Ocean and are found in Russia, Alaska, Washington state and California. The word ‘otter’ is from Indo European and Old English root words that are also the basis of the English word ‘water’. The name for a group of these animals is a 'romp,’ ‘bevy,’ ‘family,’ ‘lodge,’ or ‘raft'. They only reach about 13 pounds (6 kg) vs. 100 pounds (45 kg) in sea otters. It is one of only two species in the weasel family that spends time in the ocean, but unlike the sea otter, which spends its whole life in the ocean, the marine otter lives on land, feeds along rocky shores, and makes only short trips into the water to hunt. 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