Sea otters are surprising creatures. They’re athletic, intelligent , and actually incredibly scandalous with disturbingly precise diets (don't be fooled by all that fluffy hand holding). Another surprise they’ve been keeping from you? Sometimes their bones and teeth are purple. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

Not all sea otters have purple bones and teeth, but it isn’t all that uncommon. The purple coloration can be subtle or really quite pronounced, and the culprit behind this strange phenomenon? Sea urchins.

Purple urchins = purple otters

To a human, a sea urchin looks to be about the most exhausting snack ever. They’re covered in defensive spines that deter a lot of predators, but not sea otters.

Sea otters

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