Sea Otters
- Context (TH): Sea otters use rocks, shells, and discarded bottles as hammers or anvils to smash open hard-shelled prey. Their prey includes sea urchins, abalone, crabs, mussels, clams, & snails.
- Tool use allows otters to access otherwise inaccessible prey and maintain their energy requirements.
Use of tools by other animals
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About Sea Otters
Credit: National Geographic
- They are water mammals found along the coasts of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia.
- Unlike other marine mammals, they have no blubber to protect them from hypothermia.
- Sea otters are key players in the health of the kelp forests they inhabit.
- IUCN Status: Endangered.
- Threats: Oil spills and run-off from the land containing chemicals and disease-causing organisms.
