Some otters rely on tools to bust open hard-shelled prey items like snails, and a new study suggests this tool use is helping them to survive as their favorite, easier-to-eat foods disappear.

Cute and cuddly as they are, otters eat abalone like popcorn. A 60-pound sea otter can consume a quarter of its weight in abalone in a day.

Some otters rely on tools to bust open hard-shelled prey items like snails, and a new study suggests this tool use is helping them to survive as their favorite, easier-to-eat foods disappear.

Deep-diving otters eat mostly abalone, urchins and Dungeness crabs. Otters diving to medium depths—say, up to 40 feet—forage for clams, worms and smaller shellfish.

Depending on its habitat, the diet of an otter can vary. Here's what's an otter's favorite food.

Chomping on all of those hard shelled organisms can cause tooth damage, so sea otters–particularly females–use tools to eat larger prey. The findings are described in a study published May 16 ...

Otters are carnivores, so their diets primarily consist of meat. What type of meat depends on what's available. Most otters will eat crustaceans and fish, according to the Blue Reef Aquarium .

Otters have to consume 25% of their body weight a day and will spend a third of their day eating. That diet includes invertebrates like urchins, abalone, crabs, and clams.

Some otters rely on tools to bust open hard-shelled prey items like snails, and a new study suggests this tool use is helping them to survive as their favorite, easier-to-eat foods disappear.

Some otters rely on tools to bust open hard-shelled prey items like snails, and a new study suggests this tool use is helping them to survive as their favorite, easier-to-eat foods disappear. Some ...