It's Tough to be a Sea Otter Mom
The energy demands on sea otter mothers make reproduction a risky gamble.
Sea otters are the smallest marine mammals, and, as result, they face enormous metabolic challenges in order to survive in the cold ocean temperatures. For the adult female, meeting this challenge is especially difficult because they are either pregnant or lactating throughout their life. A new study by Dr. Tim Tinker, a Canadian wildlife biologist with the U. S. Geological Survey, and an Adjunct Professor of Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has quantified the metabolic demands of a sea otter pup for the first time. The mother's daily metabolic rate must increase by 96 percent during the six months the pup requires her care. The study also suggests this enormous demand explains why some mothers in poor condition decide to abandon their pups early, as a way of increasing the chances of survival for pups in the following breeding attempt.
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