National Geographic Kids Readers

4
LEV LS

bo o
1& 2

in
for curious kids at every reading level!

o ne
k !
s
1
LE VE L

Starting to read
Ocean Animals
Collection

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS READERS

Level 1 books are just right for kids who are
beginning to read on their own.

2
LE VE L

Readers That Grow With You

Reading independently Sea Otters Manatees
Level 2 books are perfect for kids who are ready for longer sentences
and more complex vocabulary. New words are defined on the page,

Ocean Animals Collection

but occasional adult help might be welcome.

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Super Reader!
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B
* earn awesome prizes NAT
NAT GEO KIDS
* play brain-busting games SU
SUPER
* take crazy quizzes READER
* have totally outrageous fun!
LEVELS 1 & 2

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DETAILS.
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kids.nationalgeographic.com/superreaders

U.S. $7.99 / $8.99 CAN

I S B N 978-1-4263-2273-0 / PRINTED IN U.S.A.

50799

Weird Sea
Sea Turtles Creatures
natgeoed.org/commoncore
9 781426 322730
kids.nationalgeographic.com

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 1
LE VE L

Sea Otters
Laura Marsh

Washington, D.C.

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 For Quintin, Aidan, Gabriel, and Fiona —L. F. M.
The publisher and author gratefully acknowledge the expert review of this book
by Andrew Johnson, sea otter research and conservation manager
of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Copyright © 2014 National Geographic Society

Published by the National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. 20036. All rights reserved. Reproduction
in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited.

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4263-1751-4

Library Edition ISBN: 978-1-4263-1752-1

Book design by YAY! Design

cover, Kevin Schafer/Corbis; 1, Milo Burcham/SuperStock; 2, Blaine Harrington III/Corbis; 4–5, Mark Newman/
Lonely Planet Images/Getty Images; 6 (LO), Tom & Pat Leeson; 6 (UP), Umberto Shtanzman/Shutterstock; 7, Sylvain
Cordier/Hemis.fr RM/Getty Images; 8–9, Francois Gohier/VWPics/Alamy; 10–11, Marvin Dembinsky Photo Associ-
ates/Alamy; 12 (UPLE), altrendo nature/Getty Images; 12 (UPRT), Davies and Starr/The Image Bank/Getty Images;
12 (CTR LE), Colin Keates/Dorling Kindersley/Getty Images; 12 (CTR RT), Datacraft Co Ltd/imagenavi/Getty Images;
12 (LO), Glenn Price/Shutterstock; 13, Bipolar/Taxi/Getty Images; 14, Tom & Pat Leeson; 15, Tom & Pat Leeson;
16, Frans Lanting/Corbis; 17, Howard Hall/SeaPics.com; 18–19, Kerrick James/Corbis; 20 (UP), Tom Soucek/Alaska
Stock; 20 (LOLE), Doc White/naturepl.com; 20 (LORT), IrinaK/Shutterstock; 20–21 (background), Shutterstock;
21 (UPLE), YinYang/E+/Getty Images; 21 (UPRT), Art Wolfe/Science Source; 21 (LO), Morales/age fotostock RM/Getty
Images; 22–23, Alaska Stock/Alamy; 24, Bates Littlehales/National Geographic Creative; 25, Doc White/naturepl
.com; 26–27, Alaska Stock/Alamy; 27 (LO), Marc Moritsch/National Geographic Creative; 28, Randy Wilder/Mon-
terey Bay Aquarium; 29, Natalie B. Fobes/National Geographic Creative; 30 (RT), BMJ/Shutterstock; 30 (LE), Arco
Images GmbH/Alamy; 31 (UPLE), Milo Burcham/SuperStock; 31 (UPRT), Jeff Rotman/Photolibrary RM/Getty Images;
31 (LOLE), Alaska Stock/Alamy; 31 (LORT), Kennan Ward/Corbis; 32 (UPLE), Frans Lanting/Corbis; 32 (UPRT), Jeff
Rotman/Photolibrary RM/Getty Images; 32 (LOLE), TonyV3112/Shutterstock; 32 (LORT), M. Shcherbyna/Shutter-
stock; vocab, Destiny VisPro/Shutterstock

National Geographic supports K–12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.
Visit natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.

Collection copyright © 2015 National Geographic Society

Collection ISBN (paperback): 978-1-4263-2273-0
Collection ISBN (library edition): 978-1-4263-2274-7

Printed in the United States of America

15/WOR/1

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 Table of Contents
It’s a Sea Otter! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
What Is a Sea Otter? . . . . . . . . . . 6
Life in the Sea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Built for Hunting . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Snack Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Scrub-a-Dub! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Fuzzy Fur. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
6 Cool Facts About Sea Otters. . . 20
Playful Pups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Taking It Easy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Watching Out for Otters . . . . . . 28
What in the World?. . . . . . . . . . 30
Picture Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

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 It’s a Sea O t t e r !
What dives and plays
in the water all day?

What f loats on its back

when it eats a snack?

What has a f lat tail,

but is not a whale?

A sea otter!

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 5

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 What Is a er?
Sea Ott
Sea otters are mammals.
They live in the cold Pacific
(puh-SIF-ik) Ocean.
Otter
Word
MAMMAL: An
animal that feeds
its baby milk. It has
Pacific Ocean
a backbone and is
warm-blooded.

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 Sometimes sea otters live in zoos or aquariums. They might
have been hurt or sick in the wild. Otters get help there.

Otters are fun to watch. They like

to play with each other. They dive
and splash.

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 Life in t h e S e a
Sea otters live close to shore.
They f ind small animals to
eat there.

Sea otters dive to the ocean

f loor. They swim through kelp
forests. They need lots of food
and clean water to live.

kelp

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 Q What does an otter say
in an emergency?
Kelp! Kelp!
A

Otter
Word
KELP: A kind of large
seaweed that has a long
stalk. It can grow into
underwater forests.

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 B u i l t f o r
Hunting
A sea otter’s body is perfect for
hunting in the water.

TAIL: It helps steer

the otter through
the water.

BACK LEGS: They are

webbed like flippers.
They help the otter
swim and dive.

FUR: Thick fur keeps

the otter warm.

10

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 BODY: A long
body helps
the otter
glide through EYES: Good
the water. eyesight
helps the
otter find
food.

NOSTRILS: They
close underwater
to keep water out.

MOUTH: Sharp
teeth tear off
bits of food.

FRONT PAWS:
They feel and
grab for food.

11

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 Sna c k T i m e shrimp

scallop

sea urchin
squid

crab
12

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 Sea otters eat small animals.
They eat more than 40 different
kinds. They munch on clams, crabs,
squid, urchins, and other animals.
Sea otters have
favorite foods,
jjust
u like you.

13

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 A sea otter cracks open the shell to eat the animal inside.

14

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 Q What is an otter’s favorite
science topic?
Otter space!
A

Sea otters eat their meals above

the water. They lie on their backs.
They use their stomachs as plates.

But they don’t use a knife and

fork! Sea otters use rocks to crack
open hard shells.

15

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 Scrub - a - D u b !

Do you like to stay clean?

Sea otters do.

They groom themselves for hours

every day. They scrub their faces
and bodies with their paws.

16

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 They also somersault (SUM-ur-salt),
twist, and turn. This washes food
scraps off their bodies. Their fur
must stay clean
to be warm. Otter
Word
GROOM: To clean by
scrubbing, licking,
or biting
17

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 F u z z y F u r
It’s hard to stay warm in cold
water. But a sea otter’s fur is up
to the job. It is thicker than any
other animal’s fur.

18

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 Q What did the teacher say to
A
otter here!
the otters causing trouble? Go on, get

The fur has two layers. The outside

layer keeps the cold water out.
The inside layer stays warm and dry.

19

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 Co o l Fa c t s
6 About
Se a O t t e r s
1

2 Sometimes sea otters hold

hands (well, paws)!

Sea otters can hold their

breath for about five
3
minutes. Most people
can’t do this for more
than one minute.
They are members of
the weasel
family.
20

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 4

They eat ten pounds or more of

food each day. This gives
5
them energy to swim
and hunt.

They are the smallest

6 sea mammals in
the world.

pouches

Sea otters have their own pockets.

They put food in a pouch under
each front leg while
hunting.
21

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 Playf u l P u p s

A mother otter often floats with her pup on her chest.

22

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 Q What is an otter’s
favorite book series?
Harry Otter!
A

Baby sea otters are born in the

water. They are called pups.

Pups are about two feet long at

birth. That’s about as long as
two cereal boxes.

23

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 The mother teaches
her pup how to swim,
dive, and roll. But she
does the hunting until
the pup is older.

24

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 A mother may wrap her pup in
kelp when she dives. Then the
pup will stay in one place while
she is away.
25

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 Taking I t E a s y

Sea otters live in groups called

rafts. The groups are usually all
boys or all girls. They spend lots of
time together. They rest, groom,
and eat.
26

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 Q What is the first thing sea
A
A-B-Seas!
otters learn in school? Their

Otters in rafts often wrap themselves

in kelp, too. They may sleep like
this, side by side.
27

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 Watc h i n g O u t
for O t t e r s
Scientists are busy studying sea otters.
They want to know how otters live
and eat. They want to learn about
otters that have gotten sick or hurt,
too. Then they can help.

A scientist
weighs a sea
otter at the
Monterey Bay
Aquarium.

28

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 Scientists do know that pollution
(pol-LOO-shun) hurts sea otters.
Keeping pollution
Otter
out of the ocean Word d
POLLUTION:
helps sea otters Dangerous material
that makes the water,
stay healthy. air, or soil dirty

This sea otter was rescued from an oil spill.

People helped clean and care for it.
29

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 What i n t h e
World?
These pictures show close-up
views of sea otter things.
Use the hints below to figure
out what’s in the pictures.
Answers on page 31.

1 2

HINT: An animal that sea HINT: Sea otters live here.

otters like to eat

30

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 WORD BANK
kelp teeth paws squid fur ocean

3 4

HINT: This keeps otters warm HINT: A kind of tall seaweed

in cold water.

5 6

HINT: These are used to HINT: They tear off bits

grab food. of food.
Answers: 1. squid, 2. ocean, 3. fur, 4. kelp, 5. paws, 6. teeth

31

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 National Geographic Kids Readers
E

4
LEV LS

bo o
1& 2

in
for curious kids at every reading level!

o ne
k !
s
1
LE VE L

Starting to read
Ocean Animals
Collection

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS READERS

Level 1 books are just right for kids who are
beginning to read on their own.

2
LE VE L

Readers That Grow With You

Reading independently Sea Otters Manatees
Level 2 books are perfect for kids who are ready for longer sentences
and more complex vocabulary. New words are defined on the page,

Ocean Animals Collection

but occasional adult help might be welcome.

Be a National Geographic kids

Super Reader!
BE A
B
* earn awesome prizes NAT
NAT GEO KIDS
* play brain-busting games SU
SUPER
* take crazy quizzes READER
* have totally outrageous fun!
LEVELS 1 & 2

SEE BACK FOR

DETAILS.
Watch a fun video and get started at
kids.nationalgeographic.com/superreaders

U.S. $7.99 / $8.99 CAN

I S B N 978-1-4263-2273-0 / PRINTED IN U.S.A.

50799

Weird Sea
Sea Turtles Creatures
natgeoed.org/commoncore
9 781426 322730
kids.nationalgeographic.com

NGR_Ocean Animals BINDUP_TRADE Cvr_REL_HY_EDITED.indd 1 4/14/15 4:15 PM

NGS13541-00_Cover_PB.pgs 04.14.2015 14:58