WildView™

March 6, 2018

Otter Armpits

- as seen by -

Payden Sra

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Sea otters have flaps of skin under each of their forearms—yes, otter armpits.

These flaps give otters a convenient place to stash various things to eat as well as a place to store tools such as rocks. They use them like pockets in the wild to hold the food and tools they find until they can get to the surface to eat.

Our sea otters at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium also stick clam, crab, shrimp, and squid in their armpits. They even know a behavior called “put em up!” in which they lift their paws to show us what they have stored.

Nikon D5

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