You otter know: It’s Sea Otter Awareness Week!
Posted: September 25, 2012 Filed under: Conservation, Inspiration, Marine Mammals | Tags: friends of the sea otter, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Kelp forest, North American river otter, Otter, sea otter, Sea Otter Awareness Week, Sea urchin 2 CommentsWell, would you look at that … it’s the 10th anniversary of Sea Otter Awareness Week (Always the last week in September, this year from September 23 – 29)! These adorable creatures that have won the world over with their talent for holding hands while sleeping in the water, play a vital role in the coastal ecosystem. In California, sea otters are important for maintaining the sea urchin population among the kelp forest communities. However, I’ll be honest – I had to sit back and ask myself what makes a ‘sea otter’ a sea otter and a ‘river otter’ a river otter. Below is a quick synopsis of what I discovered (HINT: If you see one near a den = river otter). Find some more fascinating facts about sea otters here.
Sea otter image (c) tomstick.com, river otter image (c) local.brookings.k12.sd.us
Beach Chair Scientist 
Otterly fascinating, as you might say…! Then there’s the river otter and the mink for similarity, esp when swimming. Otter, good. Mink, bad! RH
Reblogged this on Ann Novek–With the Sky as the Ceiling and the Heart Outdoors.