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Rachel Diaz
Santosh Khadka
English 114B
4 May 2015
The California Sea Otter:
Local Keystone Species Indicates Global Crisis
Enhydra lutris, more commonly known and loved as the California sea otter, is
considered an indicator species for environmental problems and issues that are yet to come. As
one of the biggest consumer of sea urchins, the sea otters current status is listed as threatened
species under the Marine Mammal Protection and Endangered Species Acts, and is protected
since 1977. Currently there are only about 3000 animals left along Californias coast lines. Not
only are sea otters cute and fuzzy, they are a keystone species that is detrimental to our human
environment. As mentioned, sea otters consume large amounts of sea urchins, the natural enemy
to the kelp forest along our coasts. Yet, for the last 25 years, big-money fisheries had a No-Otter
Zone enforced in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, which allowed humans to remove, and
relocate sea otters found south of an imaginary borderline, south of Point Conception. Sadly, the
then legal translocation process more commonly was achieved by simply killing the sea otters.
Professional fishermen all along the Southern California coastline were adamant about the threat
to their own livelihood posed by the sea otters existence. In a recent, unprecedented change of
law, however, the No-Otter Zone was thrown out in court, which now allows the sea otter to
roam freely, and un-interfered by humans, once again. Or so it may seem! For the purpose of this
research paper, I shall elaborate on the California sea otters important role in the protection of
our very own environment, stress their importance to us humans, and establish that they deserve
every effort from us humans to protect them in return. When our environment, and therefore our
very existence, is threatened by our own pollution, keystone species, such as the California sea
otters deserve our utmost efforts of protection.

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Enhydra lutris, the California sea otter is one of the last remaining keystone species along
our California coastlines. One cannot help but wonder what that actually means to us humans.
What does it all mean? First off, let us research the facts. Taking our questions to the Internet, we
learn online www.education.nationalgeographic.com the definition of keystone species, as it is
explained that a keystone species is a plant or animal that plays a unique and crucial role in the
way an ecosystem functions. Without keystone species, the ecosystem would be dramatically
different or cease to exist altogether (Keystone Species). There are a number of facts to be
considered when talking about the sea otters. As keystone species, they impact the environment
drastically in a positive way. Sea otters prey on sea urchins, abalone, mussels, clams, crabs, and
snails. Because sea otters are the only ocean mammal that do not have a fat layer of blubber to
insulate their bodies, they must consume 25 38% of their own body weight in food every day
in order to survive the cold Pacific Oceans temperatures. During a recent trip to Elkhorn Slough,
just west of Salinas, in Monterey County, I had a chance to talk to one of the park rangers about a
sea otters diet. Much to my surprise, I learned that sea otters consumer around 1500 sea urchins
a day. Every day! Why would we even care about sea urchins? Well, Elkhorn Slough park ranger
and naturalist Hugo, explained that by keeping the sea urchin population controlled, the sea
otters help protect the kelp forest off of Californias coast. Furthermore, online website
www.seaotters.com we can learn that without sea otters, these grazing animals can destroy kelp
forests and consequently the wide diversity of animals that depend upon kelp habitat for survival.
Additionally, kelp forests protect coastlines from storm surge and absorb vast amounts of
harmful carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (Why are Sea Otters Important?). Without that
natural check sea urchins, who graze on kelp, would be able to take over and eventually eradicate
our kelp forests. In an article on www.seaotters.com, writer John Cannon explains in detail the

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importance of the kelp forests, as their environmental impact is comparable to that of rain
forests. Cannon stresses the role of kelp forests as they absorb carbon dioxide from the air, turn it
into usable energy, and release, as by-product, life-essential oxygen back into the atmosphere:
Despite their short lives by plant standards, kelps siphon huge amounts of carbon
from the atmospherewhat scientists call primary productivity. They take
carbon dioxide from the air and turn it into sugar fuel with the help of sunlight
and water, releasing oxygen back into the air. Their productivity is on par with a
tropical rainforest in terms of the amount of carbon they turn over in a year, says
ecologist Chris Wilmers of the University of California, Santa Cruz, one of the
studys authors. Unhindered by a lack of sunlight, water or nutrients as many
plants on land are, kelp just produces like crazy, says co-author and biologist
Jim Estes. (Thanks to Sea Otters, Kelp Forests Absorb Vast Amounts of CO2)
Quite honestly, I was much surprised to learn that this cute, furry, little marine critter, had such a
tremendous impact on its own ecosystem, and, even more importantly, on our human
environment. More research revealed even more interesting details, as website www.bbc.com
states, The kelp forests fringing the North Pacific coast are one of the richest marine ecosystems
on Earth. The fish that find refuge form the basis of an immense ocean food web and a huge
fishing industry. Kelp beds buffer coastlines from storms and sequester carbon as effectively as
tropical rainforests. One of the kelp forests most endearing denizens, the sea otter, is an
important key to its survival (Sea otters: Saving kelp forests and our climate).
The diagram below depicts the relationship of sea otters with other species in their ecosystem.
This kelp forest food web includes, and highlights the importance of sea otters. As previously
established, sea otters prey on sea urchins, which graze on the kelp that so many fish and marine
invertebrates depend on. In addition, of course, the human race depends on the by-product of the
kelp forests, namely its attribute of absorbing vast amounts of carbon dioxide from the air, and

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releasing oxygen back into our environment. If there are fewer sea otters to keep the sea urchin
populations at check, the kelp forests will undoubtedly shrink, thus causing food scarcity for
multiple marine species, and causing irreversible damage to our very own human ecosystem.

Fig.1. Kelp Forest Food Web (Live58.org).

So far, I have established the importance of the California sea otter to our human
environment, and to our existence. We have learned that as indicator species, sea otter
populations indicate environmental trouble to us that could potentially affect our very existence
before too long. If the oceans and its sea otters are in trouble, the human race is as well! One
cannot help but wonder about recent headlines about the so-called No-Otter Zone, that has been
established since 1987 along the Southern California coastline. Writer John Platt explains in his

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online article on www.mnn.com, For the past 25 years, sea otters that swam further south than
California's Point Conception were scooped up and moved back north, where they could not
interfere with fishermen or oil interests along the southern coast (A legal victory for sea otters:
'No-Otter Zone' finally lifted in California). According to this article, an agreement was reached
between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, commercial fishermen, the Navy, and the oil
industry to create the so-called No-Otter Zone, the sea otter management zone that stretched
from Point Conception to the border of Mexico, within which the FWS was required to remove
sea otters. Website www.otterproject.org adds, In order to legally translocate otters, which are
protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the Endangered Species Act
(ESA), the Service sought special permission from Congress and Public Law 99-625 was
passed (No Otter Zone). However, this new No-Otter Zone also meant that the southern-water
faring sea otters lost some of their protection under the Endangered Species Act. More notably
though, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lost complete oversight of the sea otters within this
zone! Once hunted almost into extinction at the hands of fur traders, by the 1930s the sea otter
population had been reduced to a measly 50 or so animals living off the coast near Big Sur. Even
though protected since 1977, the sea otter now seemed to pose a threat to Southern California
fishermen, who claimed that the voracious mammals would eat up all their profits.
The chart below details the No-Otter Zone in Southern California, which prohibited sea otters
from living throughout their historic range in California. I cannot help but laugh at any human
attempt to prohibit an animal, such as the sea otters, from inhabiting its natural habitat. Leave it
to the human race, however, to try to impose such restrictions. Sure enough, since 1987, the
southern coast of California, from Point Conception, north of Santa Barbara, to the Mexican
border, has been legally considered the No-Otter Zone. Opponents of the No-Otter Zone argued
that this law was harmful to the recovery and management efforts of the sea otters, thus

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adversely affecting the near-shore ecosystem and all communities of Southern California.
Finally, after 25 years, the law was overturned on December 18, 2012, when the ban was lifted,
and sea otters were at last free to reclaim their historic habitat in these southern areas previously
reserved for professional fishermen and big-money oil companies.

Fig.2. No-Otter Zone (Otterproject.org).

As imperative as the California sea otter is to the environment, and ultimately human
survival, one would think that more measures were in place to ensure its continued existence
along Californias coastlines. Sadly however, more and more sea otters fall prey to their number
one enemy, the human. As established above, professional fishermen claim that the sea otters
pose a threat to their livelihood because they prey on the same marine animals people like to
catch and eat. Many fisheries still use nets that sea otters become entangled in, and drown. Some
human animals make it a sport to shoot and kill sea otters for the thrill of it. Once already hunted
close to extinction, the California sea otter still faces its biggest threat from us. Because sea

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otters are the only marine mammal that does not have an insulating layer of blubber, they depend
exclusively on their thick fur to keep them from freezing to death. Interestingly, sea otters have
the densest fur in the animal kingdom, ranging from 250,000 to a million hairs per square inch.
They spend many hours a day grooming this fur to keep it from matting and tangling, and to
keep it fluffy, which also aids with their buoyancy. Oil spills, caused by human negligence or
ignorance are the true killer of large numbers of sea otters. To this, website www.defenders.org
explains, Oil spills from offshore drilling or shipping are an immense threat to sea otter
populations. When sea otters come into contact with oil, it causes their fur to mat, which prevents
it from insulating their bodies (Threats to sea otters). Moreover, we learn that the toxicity of oil
is also harmful to sea otters, as it causes liver, or kidney failure, and severe lung damages. It
must be understood here that even small amounts of oil, such as traces of motor oil from fishing
and recreational boats, when spilled in the ocean, can harm sea otters enough to kill them. Most
people seem to wrongfully associate only large, daunting oil spills, such as the 1989 Exxon
Valdez oil spill in Alaskas Prince William Sound, with the harmful effects on sea otters. This
devastating oil spill, according to www.defenders.org, killed several thousand sea otters, and
sea otters are still threatened by events like this because countries around the northern
hemisphere continue to ship and drill for oil throughout the Pacific and along coastal areas that
sea otters call home (Threats). But leave it to the human race to pose yet another threat to the
California sea otter, the threat of pollution. Land and air pollution trickles into our oceans,
industrial giants continue to wash their waste into our oceans, and private citizens seem to be
incapable, or unwilling, to ensure clean run-off into our ocean by keeping waste and garbage out
of the sewer systems of our big cities, thus harming the sea otters food supplies and poisoning
the lovable creatures directly. The informative article on www.defenders.org states, Sea otters

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are often contaminated with toxic pollutants and disease-causing parasites as a result of runoff in
coastal waters. In California, parasites and infectious disease cause more than 40% of sea otter
deaths (Threats).
In conclusion, it can be safely stated that our California sea otter deserves protection, and
literally every humanly possible effort to help them survive. Without sea otters the kelp forests
are at risk of being grazed off by the sea urchins. The furry critter is not only cute to look at, but
also plays an essential role off the shores of California. With roughly 1500 sea urchins ingested
by one single sea otter a day, the complete loss of this keystone species can only have
devastating consequences. Also, as indicator species, sea otters can help indicate impending
catastrophic environmental changes that, if completely ignored, could bring our human existence
to an end. Maybe that is what we deserve? Maybe the human race will continue to ignore the
cries for help from our environment? The lesson we can learn from the California sea otter,
however, is clear: continue to abuse and ignore the warning signs, and we will all face extinction.
A paradigm shift in the way we think, use, and abuse, must happen in our lifetime, before it is
entirely too late. If we dont put our best efforts into protecting and nurturing the sea otters back
from the brink of extinction, they will be lost forever from our coastline, and I will not be able to
take my children to the coast and allow then to observe these gentle, amusing critters in their
historical, natural environment. :(

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Works Cited
"An Introduction to Keystone Species | Live58." Live58. Web. 1 May 2015.
<http://www.live58.org/An-Introduction-to-Keystone-Species>.
Cannon, John. "Thanks to Sea Otters, Kelp Forests Absorb Vast Amounts of CO2."
SEAOTTERSCOM POWERED BY CUTENESS RSS. 7 Sept. 2013. Web. 1 May 2015.
<http://seaotters.com/2012/09/07/thanks-to-sea-otters-kelp-forests-absorb-vast-amountsof-co2/>.
"Keystone Species." - National Geographic Education. Web. 1 May 2015.
<http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/keystone-species/?
ar_a=1>.
Platt, John. "A Legal Victory for Sea Otters: 'No-Otter Zone' Finally Lifted in California." MNN.
20 Dec. 2012. Web. 1 May 2015. <http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/alegal-victory-for-sea-otters-no-otter-zone-finally-lifted-in>.
"Sea Otters: Saving Kelp Forests and Our Climate." BBC Future. 21 Jan. 2014. Web. 1 May
2015. <http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140121-sea-otters-our-ocean-protectors>.
"Threats to Sea Otters." Defenders of Wildlife. 19 Mar. 2012. Web. 1 May 2015.
<http://www.defenders.org/sea-otter/threats>.
"Why Are Sea Otters Important? No Sea Otters. No Kelp Forests." SEAOTTERSCOM
POWERED BY CUTENESS RSS. 23 May 2013. Web. 1 May 2015.
<http://seaotters.com/2013/05/23/why-are-sea-otters-important-no-sea-otters-no-kelpforests/>.