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#otter #seaotter #kpassionate Sea otters LOVE ice. While crunching on ice might look painful to us humans, ice is actually really good for a sea otter’s teeth. Recently, I went behind the scenes with another Aquarium's sea otters who also LOVE ice → In the wild, sea otters will often use their teeth to crack into the hard shells of clams, mussels, and abalone. The abrasive shells will act like a toothbrush and scrape away plaque. Sea otter’s teeth are significantly more robust than human teeth so they can withstand the force necessary to break into the seashell. The molar’s of a sea otter have 6 roots instead of just two so they are specially designed for crunching. However, it’s difficult to give oysters on the half-shell to marine mammals under human care. The seafood has to be carefully inspected for quality and freshness. In fact, their food is required to meet FDA standards for high end restaurants! But these sea otters still occasionally need something hard to chew on, not only to keep their teeth clean, but to satisfy an otter’s natural desire to crunch something. This particular sea otter is named Rialto after he was discovered stranded and near death on Rialto Beach in Olympic National Park. At the time, he was less than a month old. I was one of the lucky marine biologists tasked with nursing him back to health with 24/7 care, both at the Seattle Aquarium and eventually the Vancouver Aquarium. Sea otter pups will typically stay with their mothers until they are 6 or 7 months old. During that time, the otter moms will teach their pups important survival skills like foraging and grooming. Since Rialto never learned those skills, biologists at the NOAA determined he would not be able to survive in the wild and deemed him non-releasable. But that’s okay! Under human care, Rialto has gone on to live a healthy and vibrant life with his new otter family. His loyal staff do their very best to meet his every need. And that often includes all the ice treats a sea otter could possibly want! Join the KPassionate channel to learn more about marine mammals and gain access to perks: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you want to support the KPassionate channel then check out my Patreon! We provide early access to videos, your name in the credits of our videos, and bonus content! → ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Come chat with me live and ask your animal questions: → Follow my social media for more adorable content: →Twitter: →Instagram: →TikTok: @k_passionate Chat with my community any time here: → Buy Merch here: → ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
