Enhydra lutris nereis

Also known as California Sea Otter

Southern sea otters float buoyantly along the central California coast, often wrapping themselves in kelp to keep from drifting while sleeping in loose groups called rafts. Lacking a insulating layer of blubber, they rely on extraordinarily dense fur and high metabolic rates sustained by consuming up to a quarter of their body weight in marine invertebrates each day. Mothers groom their pups relentlessly to trap air in their fur and carry them on their chests through coastal kelp forests.