How Do California Sea Otters Survive Atmospheric Rivers?

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.