Sea otters are sleek, furry marine mammals.

diagram of sea otter : http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/mammals/weasel/Seaotterprintout.shtml

Similar in appearance, most sea otters have a light cream or straw-colored face, a light brown belly, and dark brown fur covering the rest of the body. White whiskers on the otters face give them the nickname "old men of the sea." Sea otters have webbed hind feet and small forefeet. This makes the otter fast and graceful in the water, but clumsy and slow on land. They have a long tail used for purpulsion in the water.

Sea otters generally grow to be 4 feet long and weight between 45-100 pounds as full adults. Most male sea otters live to be 10-15 years old, whild females live to be 15-20 years old.

The sea otters fur is very special. Sea otters are the only marine mammal without a layer of blubber. To make up for this lack of insulating fat, the otters fur is the densest of any mammal. There are about one million hairs on only about one square inch of the otters body! The fur is also waterproof to help keep the sea otter warm.

swimming sea otter : http://oceanlink.island.net/oinfo/otterpage/otter.html

Air becomes trapped in the fur for warmth and buoyancy when swimming in the arctic waters the sea otter makes its home. If the otter's fur becomes dirty or the otter is unable to groom itself, the otter will die from hypothermia.