sea otter

noun

1. a marine otter, Enhydra lutris, of the shores of the northern Pacific, with a very valuable fur: now greatly reduced in number and rare in many areas.

sea otter

noun

1. a large marine otter, Enhydra lutris, of N Pacific coasts, formerly hunted for its thick dark brown fur

Word History and Origins

Origin of sea otter¹

First recorded in 1655–65

Example Sentences

Scientists already knew sea otters have an extreme metabolism.

From Science News For Students

However, they can also give off heat via a process called nonshivering thermogenesis, which Wright and his team suspected was crucial for the sea otters.

From Popular-Science

“This could be a game changer in terms of how we think about the evolution of all marine mammals, not just sea otters,” says Terrie Williams, an ecophysiologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who was not involved in the study.

From Science News

Nutrient-rich urchins in the healthy kelp offer sea otters a far better snack.

From Science News For Students

They found that sea otters were eating three times as many sea urchins as they were before 2014, but they were being picky.

From Science News

Of marine mammals the most characteristic are the sea-lion, fur-seal, sea-otter and harbour-seal.

From Project Gutenberg

"It was only a sea-otter," I tried to explain, thinking perhaps she did not care for snake stories.

From Project Gutenberg

The sea otter is among the swiftest swimmers of the mammals, but no air-breathing creature can compete in speed with a shark.

From Project Gutenberg

Within the house he saw chief Nas-nas-shup clothed in his robe of prime sea otter skins.

From Project Gutenberg

The skins of the sea otter are much prized by the Chinese, who pay for them from seventy to one hundred roubles a-piece.

From Project Gutenberg