16. Furry and friendly sea otters live in some of the world’s coldest waters.
Sea otters are members of the weasel family, which no one considers as cute as these guys. They can weigh up to 99 pounds and are much larger than people think they are. These sea otters have thick coats of fur to keep them warm and are pretty dense, making them mostly waterproof. They dive to the ocean floors to gather up mollusks, sea urchins, and other crustaceans. Surprisingly, an otter must consume 25 percent of its body weight in prey each day to stay alive. Sea otters spend approximately nine to twelve hours a day hunting. They eat many kinds of invertebrates, including sea urchins, abalone, clams, crabs, snails, squid, and octopuses. What makes them unique is that they’re capable of using tools to eat. After hunting on the seafloor, sea otters return to the surface to eat. Floating on its back and using its chest as a table, a sea otter often uses a rock to crack open its prey, especially if dinner is a crab, clam, or mussel.