Otters sleep holding hands

So they will not drift apart while they sleep floating on the sea, sea otters hold one another by the paws.

They sleep on their backs, rocking on the surface, and the current could carry them away from each other during the night. Their solution is to link paws and rest as a group, forming what biologists literally call a “raft”, which can gather dozens of them. Some even wrap themselves in kelp to stay anchored.

By day, what is more, they keep their favourite stones — the ones they use to open shellfish — in a fold of skin under the arm, like a pocket. Every otter has its preferred tool.