the fight against catastrophic climate change, The attack on the Capitol may have also been a superspreader event, Top Democratic lawmaker says an impeachment vote will come this week, Every platform that has cracked down on Trump this week, Americans are divided on whether to remove Trump, according to the polls, A second Republican senator is calling for Trump’s resignation. There are 13 species of otter found all around the world. Wow. A version of this story originally ran in 2015. Well, that true. The aquarium staff had previously tried raising pups themselves but found that hand-raised otters became too attached to humans to be released back into the wild. Here are four essential facts about sea otters: They’re the largest member of the weasel family Mustelidae, a family of fur-bearing mammals that includes everything from weasels to … Otters are adorable creatures that live both on land … Giant Otter's velvet pellets have attracted hunters whose numbers have dropped significantly. The other 12 otter species were recently identified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as having decreasing populations, and five otter species are already on the endangered list. All otter species appear on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and only one is listed as "least concern." 1. "The saving of the sea otter," writes Glenn Vanblaricom of the University of Washington in his book on the animal, "is indeed one of the great success stories in marine conservation.". It's not uncommon for female otters to die as a result of these aggressive encounters, either through drowning or from their wounds becoming infected. River otters primarily feed on fish with the size ranges from 2 – 50 cm (0.79 – 20 inches) which is really necessary since fish is a great source for gaining calories. Scientists hypothesize that these seemingly counterproductive mating habits might be the result of a population imbalance. 15 Shucking Amazing Facts About Oysters. The mammals like to keep things organized within their communities and will designate certain areas to be used as latrines. The sea otter is the largest member of the weasel family, yet the smallest marine mammal in North America. 25 Shocking, Bizarre, And Kinda Disturbing Facts That'll Fuck You Up A Bit. Facts about Sea Otter, Giant Otter, European Otter, African Otter and River Otter. It's been reported in primates like orangutans and chimpanzees, bottlenose dolphins, and ducks, among many other species. Oysters are slimy, yet delicious. Most of us don’t know much about them so here are some facts to help you educate yourself about them. In what is a disturbing trait, this lovable and cute weasel has a dark side that Darth Vader would be proud of. Vox’s work is reaching more people than ever, but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources. They have furry bodies, whiskered faces, and a propensity to lay on their backs and float on the water, a behavior that humans perceive as evidence of fun-loving. There are 13 species of otter found all around the world. The controversy over Sean Hannity’s Olive Garden “Pasta Pass,” explained. While raping they hold the head of the baby seal underwater for as long as an hour. Oh, sure they do. Ospreys are found on every continent except Antarctica. Fun Facts About Otter. They are also nocturnal and hunt at night. Otters are fun creatures to watch and they are highly intelligent. The layers manage to trap air next to the otter's skin, which keeps the otters dry and warm and also helps with buoyancy. In both cases, the male was swimming, diving, guarding, and copulating with the carcass. As the sea otter thrust his pelvis, his penis was extruded and intromission was observed. Members of the otter family include the South American giant otter — which can reach up to 1.7m in length; the Asian… Sign in 10 facts you might not know about the adorable otter Here's Harris again: Copulation normally occurs in the water where the male sea otter will approach the female from behind, grip her around the chest with his forepaws, and grasp her nose or the side of her face with his teeth.…Facial biting by the male commonly results in the development of skin and soft tissue lacerations of the female's nose and face that can occasionally be fatal.The problem is worse for females, of course, but younger males often mimic mating behavior with each other, which can cause similar injuries. But some, particularly in present-day Canada and Alaska, viewed the river otter "with awe and dread" and associated the creatures with the undead and drowning. On top of that, pups have 11 of their own calls that they intersperse with "infant babbling." Among the endangered are the sea otters along the Californian to Alaskan coasts, which are threatened by "environmental pollutants and disease agents." Theories for what's behind the drop range widely, but the US Fish and Wildlife Survey's recovery plan for the species highlights predation, in particular from killer whales, as the most important factor behind the decline. Otters are very social creatures. Over the course of a rough winter, he meticulously documented many species, and while some have since gone extinct (like a sea-cow he described that was hunted into extinction), the adorable otter was among his initial discoveries. Smart News Keeping you current Four Incredible Facts About Sea Otters We thought you otter know these Sometimes it is better to ignore certain things; knowing them can disturb you greatly. Others, like the marine otters of … 14 Disturbing Facts You’ll Wish Weren’t Really True Meghan Jones Updated: May. Harris cites another study that finds that about 11 percent of sea otters found dead on the California coast from 1998 to 2001 were killed, at least in part, by trauma associated with mating. Far-right violence got Parler kicked off the internet. In the past, observers have usually set up telescopes on shore to try and monitor otters at sea. There are 13 species of otters: The 13 species of otters are – African Clawless Otter, Asian Small-Clawed Otter, Congo Clawless Otter, Eurasian Otter , Giant Otter, Hairy-Nosed Otter, Marine Otter, Neotropical Otter, North American River Otter, South American River Otter , Sea Otter, Spotted-Neck Otter and Smooth-Coated Otter. 1. Find out if you are a sea otter specialist by checking your info against these fascinating sea otter facts. April 2017; Posted By BVA; 2 Comments; Being on the river every day we are the lucky ones who get to see otters in the Boyne Valley. 13 amazing otter facts. Discover 10 Most disturbing facts about history, human body, foods…you DON’T want to know. The sea otter and pup rolled violently in the water for approximately 15 min, while the pup struggled to free itself from the sea otter’s grasp. Therefore, they are big on tools and will often use rocks to help crack into dinner. Once thought to be gone from the area completely, southern sea otters—known as California sea otters—have been making a comeback in recent years. Here are some true facts about otters. Thirteen different species of otter exist all around the world. They like to slide off embankments into the water, wrestle, chase their tails and participate in other fun games. Besides being graceful and playful creatures, they are also ecological early warning signals for river systems. Let’s get started! The aquarium has since devised a system of hand-rearing pups for the first six to eight weeks—mostly for bottle feeding purposes—before handing the pups off to female otters for raising. Male otters' mating techniques are violent. Otters. Sign up for the Sea otters can grow between 34 and 60 inches in length. According to a study by the U.S. Geological Survey, sea otters living in a remote area in Washington state were carriers of the H1N1 virus. Ospreys are one of the most common and well-known birds of prey in the world. I miss zefrank. Fine, fine, I'll give them this much: they appear to be helpful in the fight against catastrophic climate change. Check out our range of fun otter facts for kids. German zoologist and botanist Georg Wilhelm Steller was the first to scientifically describe numerous new animals on the 1741 explorative voyage from Russia. They are often mistaken for beavers though. California’s southern sea otter has been listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act since 1977. Facts About Otters. As explained by the National Wildlife Foundation's Robyn Carmichael, sea otters frequently eat sea urchins, which in turn are known for eating massive amounts of kelp, which is very good at taking in carbon dioxide during photosynthesis. Sea otters play a vital role in the health and stability of the nearshore marine ecosystem as a keystone species 21 Disturbing Facts You Never Wanted To Know About Animals. Human causes: Oil spills are a big danger to otters.The oil coats the fur, which causes the animal to become very cold and not be able to live. The river otter, which lives in North American rivers, seems to be the only species of otter of which numbers are increasing. More otters -> fewer sea urchins -> more kelp -> less global warming. Otters are mammals of the subfamily Lutrinae, one of two subfamilies contained within the family Mustelidae. Aboard the St. Peter, Steller and other 18th-century explorers crash-landed on modern-day Bering Island after getting separated from its sister ship. How a Twitter joke that spiraled out of its creator’s control gave the Fox News host a light way to talk about Trump’s Twitter ban. Here are some true facts about otters. In one prior report on breeding-associated mortality, a tagged territorial male sea otter held a struggling female underwater until her body became limp and then copulated repeatedly with her carcass. Some of this isn't really for kids. For centuries, fisherman have been training otters to act as herders and chase large schools of fish into the nets. Learn 15 more facts about these fascinating mammals. At 105 min into the encounter, the sea otter released the pup, now dead, and began grooming.You read that correctly. 10 Fun Facts About Otters 04 th March 18 To celebrate the launch of our new SS18 collection featuring adorable otters, we’re giving you 10 fun facts about our furry sea friends for your little ones to share when they're wearing their new JoJo Tee! Otters are adorable creatures that live both on land and in the water. They hold each others's hands. In 2001, a female otter at the Monterey Bay Aquarium gave birth to a stillborn pup on the same day a stranded pup was discovered in the wild nearby. Get our newsletter in your inbox twice a week. Rape — or, as biologists usually call it, "forced copulation" — is a disturbing fact of life in the animal kingdom. Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae.The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates.Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among other animals. So do not try to approach or carry the otters. Otters are part of the Mustelidae family, which is a family of carnivorous mammals that includes skunks, weasels, wolverines, and badgers. Millions rely on Vox’s explainers to understand an increasingly chaotic world. Dangers: Predators: Some preadators to the sea otter are sharks, killer whales, eagles, and bears. In 2010, veterinarian Heather Harris and her co-authors Stori Oates, Michelle Staedler, Tim Tinker, David Jessup, James Harvey, and Melissa Miller published an article in Aquatic Mammals documenting about 19 cases of sea otters attacking baby seals. They bite their female partner's face during copulation to keep her from slipping away, leaving her with substantial facial wounds. The otters, which need to consume 25 percent to 35 percent of their body weight every day in order to maintain their metabolism and keep themselves warm in the cool waters, are divided into three "dietary guilds": Deep-diving otters that dine on abalone, urchins, and Dungeness crab; medium divers who subsist on clams, worms, and smaller shellfish; and those that stay in shallower waters, feeding on black snails. Male otters have also been known to violently copulate with other species—most notably, baby seals [PDF]. Nature, unfortunately, isn't always pretty. 10 Disturbing Animal Testing Facts 1. Hell, Vox.com once employed its own full-time otter enthusiast. They’re renowned for preying on hard-shelled marine invertebrates, including abalones, sea urchins, clams, mussels and crabs, usually fracturing the shells with their teeth. The Giant Otter is a noisy otter species and has been documented with distinct sounds indicating aggression, alarm and … They are cool, too! A mother will often wrap the babies in kelp to keep them in one place while she hunts. Baby ones raised in captivity squeak when introduced to water for the first time. Currently the southern sea otter population is estimated at just above 3,000 animals. Groups of sea otters are called ‘rafts’. Their sleek, streamlined bodies are perfect for diving and swimming. Photo by Bob Winfree, National Park Service. Otters are the heaviest of all weasels. If otters fascinate you, below are some interesting otter facts. Others, like the marine otters of South America, have had their numbers reduced because of poaching, as well as environmental concerns. A group of otters is called a raft, according to the San Diego Zoo. In nature, there are two types of Otters, one in the sea and one who lives in rivers. They're merciless hellspawn who use their intellects for great evil. Otters use their dung—known as spraint—to communicate with other otters. In California's Monterey Bay, where scientists observed otters trying to copulate with the week-old bodies of dead baby seals, there are far more male otters than females. They aren't as cute and cuddly as you might think. 1. Otters are the heaviest of all weasels. Otters are small marine mammals that play an important role in any ecosystem that they belong to. Now when developments and other disturbing activities are planned, the otters have to be taken into account. Once in the water, the sea otter gripped the harbor seal’s head with its forepaws and repeatedly bit it on the nose, causing a deep laceration. Moreover, sea otters have in at least some cases shown a willingness to attack primates, as in the case of the above sea otters in the Bronx Zoo, which killed a monkey with whom they shared an exhibit. Sea otters are awful. most people are under the impression that otters are loveable little goofballs. BuzzFeed Staff. This frog will kill you with a single touch. Otters won't act naturally with humans nearby, and using a telescope on a boat can get tricky in the rollicking ocean. Or a family or a raft. Lutrinae contains seven genuses and 12 different species, spanning every continent save Australia and Antarctica; a 13th species, the Japanese river otter, was declared extinct in 2012, like many otter species before it. Scientists suspect otters may even be able to determine the sex, age, and reproductive status of the spraint dropper just from a quick whiff. The overall effect isn't that large, but every bit helps, and otters deserve some credit for chipping in. April 15, 2016. iStock . From blood-squirting lizards to deceivingly cute killer sea otters, there are plenty of creepy behaviours in the natural world, that far outdo the supernatural. I miss zefrank. Sampling along the coast of Washington State found more than 70 percent of otters there tested positive for H1N1. A 2011 study found 39 anecdotal reports of river otter attacks in North America, 35 of which occurred after 1980. Introduction to Otters. A decent share of the attacking otters have been rabid; in the '90s, 46 percent of otter attacks involved rabies, and in the '00s, 24 percent did. Many otters eat tough food, particularly sea otters that inhabit the shallow coastal waters of the northern Pacific. Spraint composition is unique to each otter, and the creatures can identify each other by the smells. There are 13 otter species in the world and all but one of them are decreasing Numbers of otters are decreasing more and more each year. Otters can be found living on almost every continent on Earth and these mean otter facts apply to all 13 species, many of which are unfortunately endangered due to over hunting, habitat destruction, and pandemic viruses among certain otter populations. We take that as meaning there’s room for otters, fish and anglers at the lake - and the otters are definitely a big new attraction. Here are some surprising yet cute facts about them. Sea otters, by contrast, nearly went extinct due to aggressive pelt hunting in the early part of the 20th century. I couldn't find any reports of attacks on humans from sea otters, but that may just be a function of sea otters being much rarer than river otters, and spending less time on or near dry land than river otters do. Ten months later, this same male was observed with the carcass of another female sea otter. How law enforcement and internet detectives are identifying the Capitol rioters. Now they’re getting arrested. Here's just one: A weaned harbor seal pup was resting onshore when an untagged male sea otter approached it, grasped it with its teeth and forepaws, bit it on the nose, and flipped it over. Instead of trying to hook them, here are some things you should know about otters: 1. A sea otter snoozes on its back -- showing its hind legs, tail and webbed feet, which make otters great swimmers. First, male otters sometimes hold pups ransom to force their mothers to give up some of their food. Some of this isn't really for kids. Among the endangered are the sea otters along the Californian to Alaskan coasts, which are threatened by "environmental pollutants and disease agents." The connection they have with living water gives Otter an awareness of the subconscious, emotions, and psychic vibrations. The charismatic otter, a member of the weasel family, is found on every continent except Australia and Antarctica. When the female surfaced, the male stole her food (a clam), after which the female and pup quickly departed.The human equivalent of this is probably going to a grocery store parking lot, finding a woman coming out with a small child, and holding a gun to the kid's head until the mom gives you some of her food. The otter is lithe and slender with short legs, a strong neck, and a long flat tail that helps propel it gracefully through water. It was thought that otters helped keep water purified by eating already dead creatures that might contaminate the water source if they were allowed to rot. While the governments of the US, Canada, Japan, and Russia signed a treaty banning the hunting of sea otters, it took the Endangered Species Act — under which sea otters gained protection in 1977 — for a recovery to begin in earnest. Otters survive by hunting, and as such they live in unpolluted waters. The other, Mustelinae, includes badgers, weasels, and ferrets, among other similar mammals. Male otters can reach up to 45 kg, whereas a male honey badger can only hope to reach a weight of 16 kg. The cute and adorable sea otters have a dark, sinister side too. Only one otter species seems to be thriving, and that's the North American River Otter. We promise that you’ll be otterly entertained! There are two layers of fur—an undercoat and then longer hairs that we can see. Spraint scents can vary, but often are (relatively) pleasant—one expert described them as not "dissimilar to jasmine tea." After raping a baby seal to death, this psycho licked his paws, like Hannibal Lecter or something. They live mainly on land that is very close to bodies of water. You bet they do! The species' recovery has been considerably slower in California relative to other areas. De har lurviga organ, whiskered ansikten, och en benägenhet att lägga på ryggen och flyter på vattnet, ett beteende som människor uppfattar som bevis på lättroad. But these more than 25 facts will Otters consume mainly fish but many people think that they eat plants and berries. So do not try to approach or carry the otters. They are also very curious and like to investigate new things.Otters spend a good part of their day grooming themselves. The area in the bay where the scientists observed the most otter-on-seal mating sessions was also where there was a high population of transient male otters, ones that, unlike more dominant males, don't have an established territory filled with potential mates. Read on and enjoy our interesting information about otters. At six months, the pups are released back into the wild with generally strong results. Among the most notable calls: a "hum gradation" used to tell otters to change directions and a "Hah!" But you can bank on the fact that there is an otter somewhere in a river near you if you live in Britain - a remarkable success story for a species driven to extinction in many parts of the country just decades ago. To be fair, the vast majority — 77 percent — of the attacks the researchers analyzed involved North American river otters, and none appear to have involved sea otters. Legend has it they save human lives on occasion: But there comes a point at which rational people have to put adorable hijinks aside and recognize otters for what they are: disease-ridden, murderous, necrophilic aqua-weasels whose treachery knows few bounds. Otters also have particularly stinky poop, which even has its own name: spraints. 2 90% of all sea otters live on the coast of Alaska. The two species found in North America are river otters and sea otters, the latter of which are also found in Japan and the Pacific coast of Russia. They are native to the northern coastlines of the Pacific Ocean, from northern Japan to Baja, Mexico. Two species are marine; the others live mostly in fresh water. Sea otters may seem sweet and cute, especially when they are sleeping, but apart from their looks, that’s about as … The answers ranged from totally scientific to purely philosophical, but they were all pretty damn disturbing. Those efforts are admirable and valuable to the ecosystems of which otters are a part. Otters can have up to one million hairs per square inch. While they hunt for food underwater, they’ll often store a rock in the skin under their arms for later use. ... And when a boy otter does the deed with a girl otter, the act involved holding her head under the water. As the world becomes more and more polluted otter populations become more and more at risk. Go by a few different monikers, all of which are fairly to. 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