Images of sea otters holding hands have become popular on the Internet, and while this behavior is adorable, it also has a practical purpose.
As The Dodo confirms in a recent article, the animals “actually hold hands while they’re sleeping so they don’t drift apart.” The Mother Nature Network reports that otters also hold on to kelp attached to the seafloor as a way to anchor themselves in place while in the water.
Staying together is important, as the marine mammals are known to be social creatures that form communities known as rafts.
While sea otters are still considered to be an endangered species with just over 100,000 members globally, the population has rebounded from the near-extinction it faced about 100 years ago.
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