How do sea otters change as they age?
Graduate student Kate Riordan is working with the Monterey Bay Aquarium to estimate buoyancy in sea otters of different ages.
Master's student Kate Riordan, in collaboration with California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Monterey Bay Aquarium, is investigating the thermal function, buoyancy, and morphology of southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) pelts across ontogeny. She is measuring the thermal conductivity of pelts under various conditions, including the effects of crude oil on otter pelts, and she will be relating the morphological structure of the sea otter's hairs to its function. For the buoyancy experiments, she is collecting pelt buoyancy values in the lab, and she is using live sea otter buoyancy observations collected at Monterey Bay Aquarium to validate her scale estimations. This study represents the first step towards understanding thermal function and buoyancy during ontogeny for sea otters, and will provide insight into how contaminants like oil affect the functionality of the pelage in young otters.