Hello.

And welcome to "Weird, Gross, and Beautiful,"

a casual discussion about animals that I think

are weird, gross, beautiful, or all three.

And today, we're going to see exactly how long--

and talk about sea otters without gushing.

Sea otters have webbed feet and also they

have water-repellent fur to help keep them dry and toasty.

And they also have eyes and ears that close under the water.

Because, god forbid, that they get water inside of their noses

and then they have to sneeze it out.

Hmmmmh.

Sea others have a little underfur.

It's real thick.

And it helps keep them nice and warm.

And it's completely invaluable to them

because they have no insulating layer of fat.

Sea otter fur is the finest of any mammal.

Their fur has 850,000 to 1 million hairs per square inch.

That is so much fluffy hair.

Mmh.

Because of this, humans hunted them to near-extinction

for their furs.

Early in the 20th century, there was only 1,000 to 2,000 sea

otters left in the whole world.

And why was that?

Man!

Dun, dun, duh.

Yes, man.

Due to the floppy adorableness of the fur, that

is the sea otter fur, we tried to hunt them.

And there are only 2,000 of them left.

But now, because, at least, the kindness out of our heart,

there are over 450,000 of them protected.

So, go us.

So sea otters eat things like clams or mussels, sea urchins,

and, um, crabs, things like that, right?

And they take the little morsels and they just

bang them on their tummies until it's awesome-- num, num, num,

num, hm.

And when they're finished eating their little meals,

they got to clean their important fur.

And so the whoosh, shhh, waaah.

[LAUGHTER]

They got to clean their fur with their teeth and paws.

And it's very important because it

helps their fur be water repellent.

And if it's dirty, then they can't stay warm.

Huh.

So how you know they-- how they float on their backs and they

show you their tummies, like they're-- like they know that

they're the cutest [BLEEP] thing on the planet.

They, um-- they sleep that way, often in groups

And they hold hands.

They hold hands.

They hold hands.

And they sleep on their backs.

And they-- and they help so that they can stay together.

Against the swirling sea, they'll

stay in one spot, tangled up in some kelp, just holding hands.

Sea otters are the only otters to give birth in the water.

And-- ah-- and when the mommies--

the mommies hold the babies on the tummies.

And-- and then they teach them how to swim and hunt.

But they ought to be careful because when they're

born-- when the babies are born, they

are 5 pounds and only 10 inches long.

Huuh.

[THUD]

Thank you so much for watching "Weird, Gross, and Beautiful."

My name is Catie Wayne.

And if you would like to, you can

follow me on Twitter @catiewayne and let

me know what animal you would like me to cover.

This week's animal was suggested by Nico Meyer.

Thank you so much.

If you like to, please like and share this video.

And, ah, please check out last week's video about manatees.

It was a community video with you guys.

And if you like it, maybe we can do this

as like a monthly thing.

Maybe.

Ah.

I love you all so much.

And I'll see you next time.

Bye.

Muah.

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