California Dreaming: This group of sea otters get into the West Coast lifestyle as they settle down for a snooze while floating on their backs near Moss Landing Come on in, the water's fine!
This delightful group of sea otters prove they really know how to relax in style as they float on their backs while taking a communal kip off the Californian coast.
The furry creatures were snapped by wildlife photographer Michael Yang as they put their feet up after a hard days fishing near the village of Moss Landing.
Their brilliant technique is to swim out into the open water and doze off letting the tide gently carry them back towards the shore, whereupon they wake up and paddle back out to repeat the process.
Otterly wonderful: One of the chilled out creatures stifles a little yawn as he is awoken from his slumberExcept that is for one clever critter who discovered he could sleep for longer periods by anchoring himself to the seabed with kelp.
Photographer Michael explains: 'While resting, each otter seemed to have its own peculiar way of arranging its paws.
Good night guys: The marine mammals swim out into open water and let the tide carry them back to the shore whereupon they wake up en masse and repeat the process all over again'Some otters put their paws on their chest, some cover their eyes, and some put their paws straight up as if they were signalling a touchdown.
'This is just one example of anthropomorphic characteristics which make the sea otters so enjoyable to watch.
'Because of the tides they were constantly being pushed towards the shore where we were.
'Whenever they got too close, one would stir up, causing a chain reaction waking everyone'.
Sea otters are classed as an endangered species after being hunted to near extinction at the turn of the century.
But thanks to conservation programmes they are beginning to make a comeback although there are still only estimated to be 3000 living in the wild.
source: dailymail
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