River otters hunt in both freshwater and saltwater environments and are able to spend significant amounts of time on land. Sea otters, on the other hand, are coastal marine mammals and live almost exclusively in the water. To eat and sleep, sea otters float on their backs, a behavior not seen in river otters. Sea otters are much larger than river otters and have extremely dense fur coats. While river otters have long, pointed tails, sea otter tails are relatively short and flat.
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