When sea otters were reintroduced along the coastlines of islands in Southern California and British Columbia, researchers ...

Sea otters help recover the kelp forests they depend on. Now scientists know how - While threatened by climate change, otters ...

A study last year strengthened the link between recovering sea otter populations and the long-term health of kelp forests – ...

Sea otters help kelp forests recover by controlling sea urchins, but their impact varies. In British Columbia, recovery was ...

New modeling method helped researchers understand why kelp forests returned more slowly in Southern California than in British Columbia. When sea otters were reintroduced along the coastlines of ...

Kelp Forest. Image by Serpae via Pixabay. The lush underwater forests of kelp that fringe the Pacific Coastline have long been vital to the region’s ecology. However, in recent decades, these vibrant ...

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.

A sea otter floating above ribbons of kelp is undoubtedly one of nature’s cutest scenes. It’s well known that the marine mammals help make these sea surface ‘pillows’ more abundant, by eating the sea ...