Cover image
Cover: Adult male sea otters, unlike terrestrial carnivores of similar size, may spend over half of their day foraging and consuming prey. L. C. Yeates, T. M. Williams and T. L. Fink investigated the energetic costs of such a ravenous appetite in wild otters diving along the California coast (pp. 1960−1970). The largest energetic expenditure was associated with foraging but was counterbalanced by periods of low-cost rest dispersed throughout the day and night. Such an interrupted pattern of eating and sleeping enabled sea otters to maintain a marine lifestyle despite their relatively small size. Photo credit: Bryant Austin (www.studiocosmos.com).
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