Southern Sea Otter
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They share a human taste for shellfish, which they eat while floating on their back.
Human perceptions of them have changed over time. Between the mid-1700s to the early 1900s, humans considered them as the ideal fur marine mammals. They were hunted close to extinction.
Their superior fur coat allows them to live in and around the cold coastal areas of the northern Pacific Ocean.
© 2005 Patricia A Michaels