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.

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.

UC Davis researchers trying to understand the sea otter's slow recovery in California have found an important clue: Some sea otters feed almost exclusively on animals that raise their risk of being ...

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.

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 .

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

FEEDING: Underneath each of the sea otter's powerful front paws is a pouch to store food collected during foraging dives. Otters carry large stones between their forepaws on these dives, used to ...

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 ...