Weighing between 40 and 100 pounds, the sea otter is the world's smallest (and maybe most adorable) species of marine mammal, while at the same time being the heaviest member of the weasel family.

Sea otters have voracious appetites and relish eating abalone, clams, and other marine species. With their high metabolism, they consume about 25 percent of their weight in food every day.

While there were once around a million sea otters in the North Pacific, aggressive fur-trade hunting in the early 1900s decimated their numbers to just over a thousand worldwide.

Today, after laws were passed to protect them, it is estimated that there are about 106,000 sea otters. However, they are still categorized as endangered.

What made the pelts of sea otters so valuable that these creatures were nearly hunted to extinction? Unlike other marine mammals, sea otters don't have a layer of blubber to keep them warm. Instead, they have the densest fur in the animal kingdom, ranging from 250,000 to a million hairs per square inch. By comparison, the average human head contains 100,000 hair follicles.

Florida Man Deliberately Scuttles Another 'Pay It Forward' Starbucks Line

How it started:

A nice man, we'll call him John, loved the simple joy of giving. He was well-known in his community for his acts of kindness, always looking for ways to brighten someone's day. One morning, inspired by stories he'd heard, John decided to start a "pay it forward" chain at his local Starbucks Coffee Shop. He paid for his coffee and for the order of the person in line behind him, leaving the cashier with a smile and instructions to keep the chain going.

For hours, the chain continued, each person "seemingly" touched by the gesture, deciding to pass on the kindness.

How it ended, according to ABC News: 

A Florida man put an end to another “pay it forward” streak at a local Starbucks because he said he thinks people were participating out of “guilt,” not “generosity.”

Peter Schorsch, a blogger, drove to the Starbucks drive-thru in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Thursday after hearing about the pay it forward phenomenon there that ended with customer No. 458, a woman, the day before. After he ordered two Venti Mocha Frappuccinos, the barista told him his first drink had been paid for by the previous customer and asked if he would like to pay for the next customer.

“I told him no,” Schorsch, of St. Petersburg, told ABC News. “When the barista asks you to pay it forward, it is no longer spontaneous.”

“I’m really not trying to be a Grinch,” Schorsch said. “I know things are hard for baristas and I am willing to help people.”

“I just don’t want to be forced into doing something." ...

When baristas ask customers to pay for the next customer, some patrons simply oblige out of guilt, not generosity, he said.

But before you go thinking all generosity was lost, story ends on a good note ...

Though Schorsch didn't pay for the next customer at the drive-thru, he said he tipped the barista $100.

If we were to peek behind the drywall in this room and notice that all of the vertical studs had been removed, and there were only horizontal beams, we would leave the building as soon as possible. And likewise, if the building only had vertical studs and no horizontal beams, we would feel unsafe knowing that the building was not stable. We'd run for the exits!

Likewise, if we took a piece of fabric and pulled out all of the vertical or horizontal strands, we would be left with nothing but a handful of strands and dangling threads in either hand. The piece of fabric only exists because the strands run in different directions, giving body and support, and form to the cloth.