the sea otter reproductive cycle

As someone who has whitnessed sea otter mating multiple times, I can tell you that it is not exactly a pretty picture. In fact, mating between otters can be quite brutal.

The actual mating itself will occur several times with one couple. It can be quick - the male gets a sturdy hold on the female's nose, there's a quick intercourse, and the two separate and proceed in grooming themselves.

However, often a male will get too strong of a grip on a female's nose. Many experienced females' noses are scared with light pink splotches. Sometimes, a female gets a bit more beat up to the point where she can no longer take care of herself and dies. Also, females have been known to drown during the mating process - these are somewhat rare occurances, but it happens.



Female otters start mating when they are about three years old. However, the youngest otter recorded to be pregnant was just under three (this is Lootas, the baby girl of the Seattle Aquarium, now a two-time mother). The otter can be pregnant for 9-12 months and only mate every other year (again, Lootas is an exception). The sea otter produces a single pup that is held on the mother's stomach for most of its childhood. The fur of a sea otter pup is much thicker than that of a full grown otter, and therefore makes the pup much more buoyant - in fact, pups can't even swim without bobbing back up to the surfact with a wave of air bubbles. So, mother otters place their babies in the water as often as possible, to get them used to floating and swimming. Mothers teach the babies how to swim, and by the time the baby is one year of age, it no longer depends on its mother and can fend for itself.

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