Subtitle (58)
0:00>> The aquarium's head vet, Dr. Mike
0:03Murray, has anized a female otter for a
0:05checkup, giving me a chance to take a
0:10>> Look at the size of that.
0:13That's enormous. She actually feels
0:16>> Um, that really, really thick fur they
0:19have is designed to conserve heat and
0:22she really doesn't without the cold
0:23water have an opportunity to dump heat.
0:27>> Her coat is so effective that Dr. Mike
0:29has to put bags of ice on her flippers
0:32to stop her overheating.
0:36>> This is most beautiful silky soft fur
0:42On the outside, it's much thicker. When
0:44you get down deep inside, it's just silk
0:48smooth. You can just make out the the
0:52sort of pale white skin underneath.
0:56It's amazing how wet it is on the
0:57outside and then you peel it back and
0:59it's completely dry on the inside.
1:03That's beautiful. It's so soft you can
1:06barely feel it. It's weird.
1:09And if you look at the undercoat,
1:11they've got these long guard hairs, but
1:13down deep, you look at those
1:15microscopically and they've got all
1:16these little scales that stick off the
1:18shaft of the fur. And what what the
1:20otter does when it grooms is it just
1:22conditions the fur and get those things
1:24to lock together so that it becomes
1:27impenetrable to water essentially and
1:29they can get air in those spaces very
1:31similar to a down jacket or a down vest
1:33that we might be wearing.
1:36>> Looking at the undercoat in microscopic
1:39detail shows these scales lining the
1:43Grooming increases the volume of air
1:45trapped in this layer,
1:49maximizing its insulation potential.
1:58And in the freezing waters of Alaska,
2:00survival relies on good insulation.
2:06This mother is fluffing up her baby's
2:10By blowing into its fur, she's filling
2:12it with air to keep him warm.
2:17The more trapped air, the warmer it is.
2:26But for it to be effective, it needs to
2:28be kept in top condition,
2:32which means otter spend hours each day
2:41using their flexible spine to reach
2:43those hard to get spots.
