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.

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.

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.

Sea otters, the largest member of the weasel family, generally eat food equal to about a quarter of their body weight daily as they prowl kelp forests and seagrass beds.

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 ...

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 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 ...