Canada stamps news

Marine Life: Sea Otter & Harbour Porpoise



Date of Issue: 13 May 2010
Denominations: 2 x 57¢

This May, we’ll team up with Sweden, another country whose coastal waters abound with marine life, for a joint issue featuring the fun-loving sea otter (Enhydra lutris) and the timid harbour porpoise (Phocœna phocœna).



Though their trademark long whiskers have earned them the nickname, “old men of the sea,” sea otters (Enhydra lutris), known for their aquatic acrobatics and whimsical behaviour, seem much more like youngsters at play. The largest animal of the weasel (Mustelidae) family, sea otters typically reach about 4 feet in height, weighing in at 45 to 100 pounds. Except for the pads of their paws and the tips of their noses, they are completely covered in thick, rich fur—the thickest in the animal kingdom, in fact. Without the insulating blubber possessed by nearly all other marine mammals, this fur is essential for their survival in the often-frigid temperatures of the world’s oceans.