The furry, brown sea otter is an ocean-going member of the weasel family. Well adapted to a marine life, the otter's hind feet are webbed and flattened into broad flippers. Large, flat molars help the otter to eat hard-shelled sea animals, and dense, soft fur protects it from the cold ocean water.
Male otters are larger than females.
The Southern sea otter is one of the two subspecies of sea otter on the Pacific Coast of North America. The larger, Alaskan or Northern sea otter has a more northerly range. Sea otters are often seen just offshore, floating on their backs, paddling with their hind limbs and sculling with their tail. Sea otters often sleep in the kelp forest, lying under strands of the seaweed to keep from drifting away. This is because the sea otter has no insulating fat or blubber like seals and whales, so it's extremely thick fur is very important.