Decisive sea otters use paws and whiskers to distinguish objects by touch.

When dinner is encased in a robust shell, brute force is often the only solution, but ingenious sea otters (Enhydra lutris) have been more ingenious. Some pound clams and snails on a rock balanced on their chests, while others skilfully crack open shells to satisfy their voracious appetites. Describing sea otters as eating machines, Sarah McKay Strobel from the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC), USA, explains that they devour 25% of their own body weight each day just to remain warm. Yet little was known about their hunting tactics because the shy mammals stop seeking food when human divers are near.

https://phys.org/news/2018-09-decisive-sea-otters-paws-whiskers.html

Posted on September 17, 2018 11:58 PM by biohexx1 biohexx1

Comments

Thanks for the link. One of my favorite iNat observations is when I saw two sea otters pounding their meal on a rock on their chest. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/13727670

Posted by raulagrait over 5 years ago

I love observations like that, showing the animals using tools.

Posted by biohexx1 over 5 years ago

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