The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg (31 and 99 lb), making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals. Unlike most marine mammals, the sea otter's primary form of insulation is an exceptionally thick coat of fur, the densest in the animal kingdom. Although it can walk on land, the sea otter lives mostly in the ocean.

In this image made available by France's Marine Nationale, the cargo ship TK Bremen sits stranded on a beach near Erdeven, France, on December 16, 2011, spilled fuel oil fouling the water. (AP Photo/Mael Prigent, Marine Nationale)

During a jungle survival program February 20, 2013 taught by Royal Thai Special Forces in Sannapit, Thailand, U.S. Marines learned to catch cobras and drink their fresh blood, not to mention eat forest insects and pull the heads off of chicken. The training was part of Operation Cobra Gold 13, the 32nd edition of international military exercises hosted by the Thai. According to a U.S. Marines press release, Cobra Gold is the largest exercise of its kind in Asia and incorporates troops from five other nations in addition to the U.S. and Thailand. The Daily Mail reports that the Marines were invited to experience the local custom of drinking cobra blood after being taught to catch and kill cobras in the wild. As CNN notes, Cobra blood is believed to be a panacea and aphrodiasic in parts of Southeast Asia. In Jakarta, vendors can earn over $100 a night selling shots of cobra blood mixed with liquor. (Photo by Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP Photo)

U.S. Marine Lt. Ben Reid from 1/2 Charlie Company of Task Force Tarawa waits to be medivaced after being hit with shrapnel and a machine gun round, in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, on March 23, 2003. The Marines suffered a number of deaths and casualties during gun battles throughout the city. (Photo by Joe Raedle via The Atlantic)

A sick California sea lion with possible domoic acid poisoning is rescued to be evaluated by volunteers from CIMWI (Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute) in Santa Barbara, California, on March 25, 2025. Over a hundred sea lions, dolphins and other marine mammals, including birds, have been sickened by domoic acid poisoning from algal blooms in Southern California since February, US media reported. (Photo by David Swanson/AFP Photo)

Fikiri Kiponda, left, and Wilson Saro, right, carry a green turtle that was unintentionally caught in a fisherman's net, before releasing it back into the Watamu National Marine Park on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya Wednesday, September 22, 2021. A former accountant, Kiponda and the Local Ocean Conservation group rescue sea turtles that have been caught in fishermen's nets, and then release them back into the marine park or treat injured ones at a rescue center until they are fit. (Photo by Brian Inganga/AP Photo)

Spencer Slate, costumed as a scuba-diving Easter bunny, is shown in this handout photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau as he hides eggs amid eel grass, in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary off Key Largo, Florida March 31, 2013. About 80 adults and children participated in an Underwater Easter Egg Hunt, seeking real hard-boiled eggs painted with non-toxic food coloring to avoid adverse effects on the marine ecosystem. (Photo by Bob Care/Reuters/Florida Keys News Bureau)

U.S. Marines kick in a door while securing a building next to the main hospital in central Baghdad April 15, 2003, which will be used as a temporary Iraqi police headquarters. (Photo by Jerry Lampen/Reuters)