Otter Grooming On Rocks By The Sea On Visit To West Coast Highlands Scotland

Tour Scotland short 4K wildlife camera travel video clip of an Otter grooming on rocks on by the sea on visit to the West coast of the Highlands, Britain, United Kingdom. To keep warm, sea otters spend a large portion of their days grooming and conditioning their fur. This traps air and heat next to their skin. A sea otter grooms itself to stay warm. The otter, Lutra lutra, was lost from most of England and Wales between the 1950s and the 1970s because of pesticide pollution of waterways. But it survived in Scotland’s cleanest bodies of water in the north and west and the islands. Today, the species is flourishing across Scotland, and recovering well across the UK as waterways are cleaned up. The Scottish population is estimated to be around 8,000 otters. Otters are largely solitary, semi aquatic mammals that get most of their food from lochs, rivers or the sea. The Scottish population has an unusually high proportion of coastal dwelling individuals, which feed almost exclusively in the sea. Otters must keep their fur free of salt using freshwater for it to remain effective as insulation. In freshwater, otters feed: mainly on fish such as trout, salmon and eels; on spawning frogs and toads in Spring and occasionally on mammals and birds. The otter belongs to the same family as the badger, pine marten, stoat and weasel, and American mink. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day. Find things to see and do in Scotland where you are always welcome All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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