Just by eating sea urchins and destructive shellfish, sea otters are keeping kelp forests healthy and coastal erosion at bay.

Where there is a sea otter population, otters can affect the whole ecosystem, and the researchers say they are the primary driver of kelp changes. Sea otters don’t have a thick blubber layer to ...

In fact, we found sea otter population density as the strongest predictor of change in kelp canopy coverage across this hundred-year span." Despite the valiant effort from otters against climate ...

Adorably fuzzy sea otters aren’t just cute. The marine mammals serve a crucial role, helping to restore the giant kelp forests they rely on by removing their top predators, the sea urchins. When ...

They can usually be found on the coast, relaxing on the water surface. There are two subspecies: the northern sea otter, ...

When sea otters were reintroduced along the coastlines of islands in Southern California and British Columbia, researchers saw kelp forests return to areas that were destroyed by sea urchins. But ...

How Otters Are Saving Earth’s Underwater Forests. Season 2 Episode 3 | 10m 6s Video has Closed Captions | CC. Sea otters play a vital role in maintaining the balance of sensitive kelp forests.

That can start with healthy kelp forests. Reintroducing sea otters, a once-native species to the Oregon coast, would do just that. Sea otters could, in part, ...

Southern sea otters, for example, live in estuaries and kelp forests. They love munching on sea urchins, which allows these lush kelp forests to thrive and support other organisms.

However, sea otters played an instrumental role in restoring kelp forests in Alaska after their reintroduction in the 1960s. Smith, the Monterey Aquarium researcher, said that example is ...

To start a kelp-based grooming session, an orca places the bull kelp stipe on its face and nuzzles against another killer ...

Sea otters were hunted to local extinction more than 100 years ago. Their absence left a hole in Oregon Coast ecosystems that's being felt now more than ever.