Reproduction
Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) breed sexually, so males and females have to mate in order to produce offspring (called pups). Mating takes place in the water. A male goes up to the female. If she does not want to mate, she will hiss, slap the water with her tail and dive. But on the other hand if she wants to mate, she will start to groom and play with him. These games can get quite rough. The male will often bite the female on the nose hard enough to draw blood. The mating act only takes a few minutes. Males and females may remain together up to four days, but eventually they part. It is not known how long the gestation of a sea otter is, but the longest known gestations have been twelve months.