Page 75 - Animals of the Sakhalin Region in myths and legends

S (Enhydra lutris)

Sea otter

The body length (to the root of the tail) of the male is up to 1.5 m, of the female — up to
1.3 m; weight up to 42 kg and 36 kg. The body is elongated with a long, up to 36 cm, slightly
flattened tail. The forelimbs are typical for terrestrial mammals, but are somewhat shortened,
the toes are fused. The hind limbs are strongly pushed back and turned into a kind of flippers.
The hair is soft, thick and high, absent only on the tip of the nose, the edges of the lips and the
pads of the forepaws. Due to the thickness of the hairline, when immersed in water, an air gap
forms in it, completely preventing body contact with water. Hair color varies from almost red
to almost black. On the ventral side, the coloration is often light. In older animals, the head
and neck are usually lighter in color due to gray hair.
The basis of the food ration is benthic invertebrates living at shallow depths.
Within the Sakhalin region, it is distributed along the islands of the Kuril ridge, very rarely
penetrating into the coastal waters of island Sakhalin. It is most numerous near the islands of
Shumshu, Paramushir, Urup. Outside the Sakhalin Region, the species is found in the south of
Kamchatka, the Commander Islands and further east in the waters of the United States.

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