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Sea otters and World Otter Day – Environment America
May
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Save America’s Wildlife
World Otter Day gives us a chance to celebrate all otters, including sea otters, which have vanished from large portions of the Pacific Coast
Wildlife & wild places
Today is World Otter Day – a day to celebrate all otters and raise awareness about problems they’re facing.
Otters are known to be some of the cutest and most charismatic mammals on our planet. Sea otters (in our opinion) top the list, but they’re not just cute. They’re some of the top predators in the coastal areas they inhabit and serve an important role in keeping ecosystems, including kelp forests, in balance. Sadly, otters have disappeared from many of the places they’ve historically called home along the Pacific Coast.
Up until the late 1800’s, sea otters could be found from Alaska all the way down to Southern California and the Baja Peninsula. As a result of the Fur Trade, sea otters were hunted to extinction in Northern California, Oregon and Washington. A few survived along the coast of central California, and otters were later reintroduced in the Evergreen State.
Without otters, the ecosystems that rely on them in Oregon and Northern California – primarily kelp forests – are suffering. A lack of these marine mammals caused a boom in purple sea urchins (a sea otter’s favorite snack), and urchins in turn mow down on kelp. In some places, kelp forests have almost disappeared.
Kelp forests are an aquatic algae that provide the habitat and hunting ground for countless marine species – from gray whales all the way down to plankton. Kelp forests also store a whole lot of carbon, making them (and thus the otters) essential in our fight against climate change.
Knowing that sea otters are threatened, here are 3 policies we can embrace:
Finally, to truly honor the world’s otters, we should all attempt one more thing: play like an otter.
Wildlife & wild places
Oregon’s kelp forests are disappearing, but bringing back sea otters could help them.
Protect Our Oceans Campaign, Advocate, Environment Oregon Research & Policy Center
Senior Director, Conservation America Campaign, Environment America
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