(2nd best of 3) Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris) mother with nursing pup in the Morro Bay harbor, Morro Bay, CA.🦦

Photo: Mike Baird · CC BY 2.0

SpeciesCarnivoraMustelidae
Carnivores

🦦Sea otter

Enhydra lutris (Linnaeus, 1758)

The sea otter is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg (30–100 lb), making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals. Unlike most marine mammals, the sea otter's primary form of insulation is an exceptionally thick coat of fur, the densest in the animal kingdom. Although it can walk on land, the sea otter is capable of living exclusively in the ocean.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
130
Photos
6
Measurements
13
vs you
≈ half your weight
Conservation status
ENEndangered

IUCN Red List assessment, 2021.

Population trendDecreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
27 kg
Body length
0.35 m
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
30 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Sea otter

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
27 kgrecord 45 kg · SeaLifeBase
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Record: largest individual on record

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

By sex

  • Female33 kgSeaLifeBasev25.04SeaLifeBase populates Weight independently of Length; the two are not guaranteed to describe the same individual. Verify before publishing.
  • Female33 kgWikidataQ41407
  • Male45 kgWikidataQ41407

Figures vary

  • 26 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Body length
0.35 m
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

By sex

  • Female1.4 mSeaLifeBasev25.04
  • Female140 mWikidataQ41407
  • Male148 mWikidataQ41407

Figures vary

  • 1.48 mSeaLifeBasev25.04
Brain mass
129 g
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
30 years
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 27 yearsAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Generation length
15 years
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Age at maturity
2.8 years
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Gestation
216 days
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 140 daysAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Litter size
1
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 1AnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Trophic level
Carnivore
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Activity cycle
Crepuscular / mixed
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Home range
3.43 km²
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Population density
6.46 per km²
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
27 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Sea otter yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classMammalia
  4. ›orderCarnivora
  5. ›familyMustelidae
  6. ›genusEnhydra
  7. ›speciesEnhydra lutris
Full lineage
  1. classMammals · Mammalia
  2. orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
  3. subfamilyLutrinae
  4. genusEnhydra
All 15 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. classMammals · Mammalia
  9. subclassTheria
  10. superorderLaurasiatheria
  11. orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
  12. suborderCaniformia
  13. familyMustelidae
  14. subfamilyLutrinae
  15. genusEnhydra
More

More about the Sea otter

Closest relative on this site
🦦 Eurasian otter — last shared an ancestor ≈ 5.8 million years ago.
Watch them together →
What it eats
insects and other invertebrates50%
fish50%
In other languages
Seeotter (de), Калан (ru), Enhydra lutris (es), Enhydra lutris (fr), ラッコ (ja), Lontra-marinha (pt) … and 27 more languages

Animals caught on camera

Real footage of the animals on this site — hunting, fighting, and getting on with it.

See all 130 videos →
Tools

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