How Do California Sea Otters Survive Atmospheric Rivers?

#seaotter #atmosphericriver #kpassionate
How do California sea otters survive storms and atmospheric rivers? A marine biologist answers these questions and explains the amazing ways marine mammals survive nature's fury.

00:00 - Ask a Marine Biologist
00:37 - Atmospheric Rivers Hit California
01:23 - Sea Otter Adaptations
02:15 - Does Rain Bother Otters?
02:55 - Sea Otters Sleeping in Hail
03:18 - Sea Otters Holding Hands
03:59 - Sea Otters Habitat
04:38 - Elephant Seals
06:01 - Sea Otter Pup Rescue Story
07:34 - KPassionate

Coastal storms have increased in number and frequency. And there is a strong body of evidence that shows that these storms can adversely affect many marine mammals. Including sea otters. Thankfully, sea otters are almost perfectly adapted to life in the rainy north Pacific. With around 600,000 to 1,000,000 hair follicles per square inch hairs per square inch, sea otters have the densest fur coat in the animal kingdom. Sea otter fur also has two layers. Long, waterproof guard hairs and a soft dense underfur that traps a layer of air to provide additional insulation.

But not so much the rain or hail that is the problem… but wind and waves. Anyone who has ever swam in the ocean knows that waves push you in directions you don’t want to go. So sea otters hold hands to keep from washing away. This behavior is known as rafting and sea otters tend to raft up in areas shielded from heavy wind and waves in estuaries, coves, and especially kelp forests.

But not all marine mammals are as well adapted to weathering these storms. Seals and sea lion pups are especially vulnerable to heavy rain and high winds. This winter, a string of NINE consecutive atmospheric rivers hit the West coast, causing epic storm surges that tragically swept a large number of newborn elephant seals out to sea.

While sea otters are typically better than pinnipeds at weathering storms… weather related strandings do occur. You might recognize one example. A sea otter I worked with named Katmai.

Katmai the Sea Otter's Rescue Story
[1] https://www.homernews.com/news/otter-...
[2] https://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/201...
[3] https://alaskapublic.org/2013/03/26/r....

Sea Otter Savvy Original Video
[1]   / 1629894584812867585  

Cited Sources
[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s4159...
[2] https://www.sacbee.com/news/californi...

Join the KPassionate channel to learn more about marine mammals and gain access to perks:
   / @kpassionate  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check out our Patreon to support the KPassionate channel! We provide early access to videos, your name in the credits of our videos, and bonus content!
→  / kpassionate  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Learn more about the amazing marine mammals that I work with: →   / kpassionate  
Come chat with me live and ask your animal questions: →  / kpassionate  
Follow my social media for more marine mammal content:
→Twitter:   / kp_assionate  
→Instagram:   / kp.assionate  
→TikTok:   / k_passionate  
Chat with my community here:
→  / discord  
Buy Merch here:
→https://shop.kpassionate.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music
CJ-0
Soundstripe.com

Additional Imagery
NOAA Fisheries
National Park Service
Sea Otter Savvy
BlackBoxGuild - soundstripe.com
blackboxguild - stock.adobe.com
EmmFilm - soundstripe.com
McWhinneyMedia - stock.adobe.com
hdnaturefootage/Pond5 - stock.adobe.com
Footage of the World - stock.adobe.com
sheilaf2002 - stock.adobe.com
MediaFuzeBox - soundstripe.com
Markoconnell - soundstripe.com
Jiri Prochazka - stock.adobe.com

Thumbnail
Pam Mullins/Wirestock Creators - stock.adobe.com
Tryfonov - stock.adobe.com
Cara-Foto - stock.adobe.com
Photoshopped and Combined by DoubleAgent XV