The Typical Diet of Sea Otters

The Typical Diet of Sea Otters Sea otters live in the Pacific Ocean and are found in Russia, Alaska, Washington state and California. These furry marine mammals are one of only a few marine animals known  to use tools to obtain their food. A Sea Otters Diet Sea otters eat a wide variety of prey, including marine invertebrates such as echinoderms (sea stars and sea urchins), crustaceans (e.g., crabs), cephalopods (e.g., squid), bivalves  (clams, mussels, abalone), gastropods (snails), and chitons. How Do Sea Otters Eat? Sea otters obtain their food by diving. Using their webbed feet, which are well adapted for swimming, sea otters can dive more than 200 feet and stay underwater for up to 5 minutes. Sea otters can sense prey using their whiskers. They also use their agile front paws to find and grasp their prey. Sea otters are one of the only mammals  that are been known to use tools to obtain and eat their prey. They can use a rock to dislodge mollusks and urchins from the rocks where they are attached. Once at the surface, they often eat by placing the food on their stomachs, and then placing a rock on their stomachs and then smashing the prey on the rock to open it and get at the flesh inside. Prey Preferences Individual otters in an area seem to have different prey preferences.  A study in California found that among an otter population, different otters specialized in diving at different depths to find different prey items. There are deep-diving otters that eat benthic organisms such as urchins, crabs, and abalone, medium-diving otters that forage for clams and worms and others that feed at the surface on organisms such as snails. These dietary preferences may also make certain otters susceptible to disease. For example, sea otters eating snails in Monterey Bay appear more likely to contract Toxoplama gondii, a parasite found in cat feces. Storage Compartments Sea otters have loose skin and baggy pockets underneath their forelimbs. They can store extra food, and rocks used as tools, in these pockets. Impacts on the Ecosystem Sea otters have a high metabolic rate (that is, they use a high amount of energy) that is 2-3 times that of other mammals their size. Sea otters eat about 20-30% of their body weight each day. Otters weigh 35-90 pounds (males weigh more than females). So, a 50-pound otter would need to eat about 10-15 pounds of food per day. The food sea otters eat can impact the entire ecosystem in which they live. Sea otters have been found to play a pivotal role in the habitat and marine life that inhabit a kelp forest. In a kelp forest, sea urchins can graze on the kelp and eat their holdfasts, resulting in deforesting the kelp from an area. But if sea otters are abundant, they eat sea urchins and keep the urchin population in check, which allows kelp to flourish. This, in turn, provides shelter for sea otter pups and a variety of other marine life, including fish. This allows other marine, and even terrestrial animals, to have abundant amounts of prey. Sources: Estes, J.A., Smith, N.S., and J.F. Palmisano. 1978. Sea otter predation and community organization in the Western Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Ecology 59(4):822-833.Johnson, C.K.,  Tinker, M.T., Estes, J.A., Conrad, P.A., Staedler, M., Miller, M.A., Jessup, D.A. and Mazet, J.A.K. 2009. Prey choice and habitat use drive sea otter pathogen exposure in a resource-limited coastal system. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106(7):2242-2247Laustsen, Paul. 2008. Alaskas Sea-Otter Decline Affects Health of Kelp Forests and Diet of Eagles. USGS.Newsome, S.D.,  M.T. Tinker, D.H. Monson, O.T. Oftedal, K. Ralls, M. Staedler, M.L. Fogel, and J.A. Estes.  2009. Using stable isotopes to investigate individual diet specialization in California sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) Ecology 90: 961-974.Righthand, J. 2011. Otters: The Picky Eaters of the Pacific. Smithsonian Magazine.Sea Otters. Vancouver Aquarium.The Marine Mammal Center. Animal Classification: Sea Otter.

How to Create a Homeschooling Lifestyle

How to Create a Homeschooling Lifestyle Academics are a vital  aspect of homeschooling. However, we homeschooling parents need to avoid the trap of becoming  overly focused on them and on trying to recreate a traditional classroom setting. Doing so can cause us to  lose sight of what a gift it is to have the  freedom  to homeschool our children. Home educating doesn’t mean that we bring school home. Instead, it means that we incorporate learning into our everyday lives until it becomes an extension of our family life. Try these simple tips to put the home  in your schooling. 1. Snuggle up together to read – even if you’re all reading different books. It doesn’t matter if you’re reading books for school or books for fun, if you’re reading aloud or everyone has their own book – snuggle up to read together! A bed or couch is a perfect, year-round snuggle spot. A blanket in the back yard makes a stress-relieving warm weather book nook. Move the blanket near the fireplace or heater for a cozy cold weather spot. 2. Bake together. Baking together provides opportunities for younger kids to practice real-life math applications (such as adding and subtracting fractions), following directions, and basic kitchen chemistry. It allows older students to learn home-making skills in a real-world context. Baking together creates  discussion time for kids of all ages. It also helps your entire family to bond and create memories together. 3. Learn alongside each other. You don’t have to fumble your way through algebra or chemistry. Take the course with your students and learn together. This shows your kids shows them that learning never stops. 4. Discover family hobbies. Discovering activities that you all enjoy doing together builds family relationships .It also  provides additional  learning opportunities. For older kids, family hobbies may even translate to elective credits for high school. 5. Take family field trips. It’s fun to go on field trips with your homeschool group, but don’t forget about family-only field trips. The kids often learn more because they’re not distracted by friends. Family field trips also provide the non-teaching parent a chance to get involved with what the kids are learning. 6. Involve the non- teaching parent in real, practical ways. Let Dad (or Mom) do something besides ask, â€Å"What did you learn in school today?† Let the parent who isnt the primary teacher do science experiments or art class on the weekends or in the evenings. Let him read aloud to the kids in the evenings. Ask him to teach them to change the oil in the car, cook a favorite meal, or set up an Excel spreadsheet. Be aware of practical opportunities for homeschool dads (or moms) to be involved based on their talents and your family’s needs. 7. Allow character training to take place over academics. There comes a time in every homeschooling family’s life when character training needs your focus. It’s a time when you need to put the books aside and give your attention to the issue at hand. The books will still be there tomorrow or next week or next month. 8. Involve your children in your everyday life. Don’t overlook the educational value of everyday activities such as grocery shopping, running errands, or voting. Take your children with you. Don’t feel that school has to be a completely separate part of your day. 9. Don’t consider life events a disruption to school. At some point, most families will face life events such as a death, a birth, moving, or an illness. These are not disruptions to learning. They are opportunities to learn and grow together as a family. 10. Be involved in your community. Look for ways to get involved in your community as a family. Serve in the local soup kitchen. Volunteer at the library. Work in local politics.   Homeschooling families need to understand that learning happens all the time. We need to embrace these moments,  instead of seeing them as a disruption to school.   Dont miss the opportunities that are all around you to put the home in your schooling.