Otters, beavers and other semiaquatic mammals keep clean underwater, thanks to their flexible fur
Andrew Dickerson, Assistant Professor of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering, University of Tennessee
Underwater surfaces can get grimy as they accumulate dirt, algae and bacteria, a process scientists call “fouling.” But furry mammals like beavers and otters that spend most of their lives wet manage to avoid getting their fur slimy. These anti-fouling abilities come, in part, from one of fur’s unique properties — that each hair can bend and flex as an animal moves.
I’m a mechanical engineer who studies fluid dynamics, or how liquids behave. My team recently published a study showing that fur...