Sea otter
Amazing fact
Sea otters may store a tool stone in loose skin beneath a foreleg.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Sea otters may store a tool stone in loose skin beneath a foreleg.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Sea otter
- Scientific name
- Enhydra lutris
- Japanese name
- ラッコ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Carnivora
- Family
- Mustelidae
- Genus
- Enhydra
It eats while floating on its back and sometimes uses a stone to break shells.
How the Sea otter lives
They are active by day and forage most at dawn and dusk. They catch prey on the sea floor and eat at the surface. When resting, they wrap themselves in kelp to avoid drifting away.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Diet
- Crabs, snails, urchins, clams, abalone, mussels and other invertebrates
- Conservation status in Japan
- Critically Endangered (CR)Ministry of the Environment of Japan, Red List 2020
Where the Sea otter has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ラッコ
- 简体中文
- 海獭
- 繁體中文
- 海獺
- 한국어
- 해달
- Español
- Nutria marina
- Français
- Loutre de mer
- Deutsch
- Seeotter
- Português (Brasil)
- Lontra-marinha
- Italiano
- Lontra marina
- हिन्दी
- समुद्री ऊदबिलाव
- العربية
- قضاعة بحرية
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Berang-berang laut
- Tiếng Việt
- Rái cá biển
- Русский
- Калан
- Türkçe
- Deniz samuru
- ไทย
- นากทะเล
- বাংলা
- সমুদ্র ভোঁদড়
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- Monterey Bay Aquarium — Sea otterChecked: 2026-11-03
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Enhydra lutrisChecked: 2026-11-05
- Ministry of the Environment of Japan, Red List 2020Checked: 2026-11-07
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
The conservation status in Japan is the category in the Red Lists of the Ministry of the Environment of Japan, which assess the risk of extinction for wild animals in Japan.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeWhen you meet the Sea otter, look for this
- Look for its long whiskers.
Animals do different things from day to day, so you may not always see this.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebEXHIBIT INFORMATION
Places that keep or show the Sea otter
Zoos, aquariums and other places whose official websites say they keep or show this animal.
Kinki
- Toba Aquariumキラの体調不良のため、2026年11月4日から当面の間ラッコの見学を全面中止(2026年11月3日の公式お知らせ)。再開は公式サイト・Xで告知
Displays can change with the animals’ health and the seasons. Check each facility’s official website before you go.
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Others in Mustelidae
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