Sea otters, Sitka Sound, Sitka, Alaska, USA

© Robert Harding/Offset/Shutterstoc

Sea otters

Officially called Enhydra lutris, and unofficially known as the cutest creatures that float, the sea otters in today’s image can be found in Sitka Sound, Alaska, in the Unites States. Groups of either males or females (sometimes with pups), are appropriately named rafts. Male rafts tend to be larger and can number more than 1,000 individuals. Their buoyant bodies are like literal rafts, functioning as cradles, dinner tables or any kind of solid surface. That’s convenient because otters spend the vast majority of their lives in the water, even giving birth in the sea.