Sea Otters VS River Otters! What's the Difference?

#seaotters #otters #kpassionate
A marine biologist answers the question: how do you tell sea otters from river otters?

00:00 - Sea Otters VS River Otters
00:55 - Types of Otters
01:59 - Are River Otters and Sea Otters the Same?
02:44 - Difference Between Sea Otters and River Otters
04:32 - River Otter or Sea Otter
06:08 - How Many Babies Do Otters Have?
07:15 - Sea Otters Holding Hands
07:51 - Otters Moms
08:12 - Giant River Otters
09:00 - Kpassionate

Both sea otters and river otters can be dangerous, as we've seen with some of the recent attacks. Learn more about the sea otter attacking surfers here:    • Surfboard Stealing Otter? A Marine Bi...  

Let’s start with basic taxonomy. All otters are part of the “mustelidae” family, also known as the weasel family. This family includes badgers, wolverines, and even the domesticated ferret. Sea otters and river otters are also part of the same sub-family, called Lutrinae. This subfamily includes the North American River otter, Eurasian river otter, as well as the South American giant river otter. But there is only one sea otter.

Let’s look at the similarities and shared characteristics of the various otters. All otters love to play. They play with things like rocks, or toys if they’re living under human care, and pretty much anything they can get their dexterous paws on. And otters love to wrestle.

All otters have similar body shapes. Just like every weasel in the mustelidae family, otters have long spines and short stubby arms. These long spines allow them to be extremely flexible, sometimes twisting themselves into positions that you or I would find very uncomfortable.

However, there are several differences in the anatomy of sea otters and river otters. Sea otters are bigger and bulkier. They are actually the heaviest weasel in the weasel family. The largest adults can weigh up to a hundred pounds.

Sea otters also swim on their back, using their large paddle-like hind flippers and they are extremely adapted for ocean waters. But this means they are also very awkward on land. River otters have much smaller feet, making them much more agile and comfortable on land. River otters also use all four paws to swim in a doggy-paddle motion. River otters are much sleeker than sea otters which is one of the reasons they are faster swimmers than sea otters.

The biggest difference between river otters and sea otters is in their names. Sea otters are almost exclusively found in the sea, specifically the kelp forests of the North Pacific Ocean. River otters are found in rivers and lakes all over the world and they sleep on land in dens.

These different habitats also mean that river otters and sea otters have different diets. Sea otters aren’t fast enough to catch fish, so they mostly eat shellfish like clams, mussels, and sea urchins. River otters eat a lot of fish, but they also eat land animals like rodents and lizards.


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